Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has said the worsening conflict involving Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen cannot be resolved through military action, urging all parties to embrace dialogue instead.
Speaking in an interview published by the state-run Iran Daily on Saturday, Araghchi stressed that lasting peace in Yemen and the wider region can only be achieved through negotiations.
“We believe that there is no military solution to the issue of Yemen, Bab al-Mandab, and other regional issues,” Araghchi said, calling for “dialogue.”
The Iranian foreign minister also rejected claims that Tehran was responsible for the latest escalation in the region.
According to him, the conflict in Yemen and tensions around the Bab al-Mandab Strait are rooted in long-standing disputes involving Yemen, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region.
“The situation in Yemen cannot be attributed to Iran,” he stated.
The renewed violence comes after the Houthi rebels announced a blockade of Saudi ports and claimed responsibility for attacks on oil tankers, ending a period of relative calm that followed a United Nations-brokered truce in 2022.
The blockade has raised fresh concerns over global trade, as it threatens Saudi Arabia’s access to international shipping routes. The kingdom already faces challenges linked to Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, another key maritime passage.
On Friday, however, a Houthi spokesperson clarified that commercial traffic through the Bab al-Mandab Strait was not being completely blocked.
“The maritime blockade only affects the Saudi side,” the spokesperson said.
The latest developments have heightened fears of further instability in the Middle East, with growing concerns that continued hostilities could disrupt international shipping and regional security.
Source: AFP.
