houthi support rally
© REUTERS/ Khaled Abdullah
Mohammad Abdul-Salam, a spokesman for Yemen's Shia Houthi rebel movement Ansar Allah, held a meeting with Iran's ambassador to Yemen and thanked Tehran for endorsing the establishment of the Council, which had been agreed by Ansar Allah movement and former President Ali Abdullah Saleh's General People's Congress party in late July.

Mohammad Abdul-Salam, a spokesman for Yemen's Shia Houthi rebel movement Ansar Allah, has praised Iran for approval of the establishment of the Arab country's Supreme Political Council, strictly opposed by the governmental forces, Iranian media reported Tuesday.

In early August, the UN-brokered talks in Kuwait on Yemen's reconciliation ended with the government and Houthi rebels failing to come to an agreement and the rebels forming the Supreme Political Council with a prospect of ruling the country.

According to the Tasnim news agency, Abdul-Salam, a senior official from the Houthi movement at Kuwait talks, has recently held a meeting with Iran's ambassador to Yemen and thanked Tehran for endorsing the establishment of the Council, which had been agreed by Ansar Allah movement and former President Ali Abdullah Saleh's General People's Congress party in late July.

According to Abdul-Salam, the 10-member body is a milestone in reaching a political compromise to end the Yemeni civil war.

Since 2014, Yemen has been engulfed in a military conflict between the government headed by Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and the Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, which is the country's main opposition force. The Houthis are backed by army units loyal to former Yemeni President Saleh.

Since March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf countries has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request.