UN envoy hails recent Iran-Saudi agreement to resume diplomatic ties

The UN's Special Representative for Yemen, Hans Grundberg praised the recent agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to resume diplomatic ties, saying it has positive implications for the entire region, especially Yemen.

According to Tasnim news agency, Grundberg arrived in Tehran with a UN delegation to discuss the latest developments in Yemen.

In a meeting with Ali Asghar Khaji, a senior Advisor to the Iranian Foreign Minister on Special Political Affairs, the two discussed the outlook for peace in Yemen and exchange of prisoners of war.

Khaji stressed the need for a practical strategy to achieve these goals and improve the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

“The human catastrophe in Yemen needs to be improved as a top priority of the UN and the other players in that country,” Khaji added.

Grundberg expressed satisfaction with the Tehran-Riyadh political agreement, stating that it has favorable outcomes for the war-torn Yemeni nation and the region as a whole.

Following days of intensive talks in Beijing, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed on Friday to resume their diplomatic relations and reopen their embassies and diplomatic missions within the next two months.

Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations with Iran in January 2016 after Iranian protesters, enraged by the execution of prominent Shia Cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr by the Saudi government, stormed its embassy in Tehran. 

Saudi Arabia’s military campaign against Yemen as well as the death of hundreds of Iranian Hajj pilgrims in a deadly human crush in Saudi Arabia’s Mina in September 2015 had prepared the ground for the deterioration of relations between Tehran and Riyadh.

ME