Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian said the current government has been seeking to step up cooperation with regional countries, particularly Persian Gulf Arab states, and plans to help establish "inclusive dialogue" among regional players.
"Since coming to office (in 2013), the eleventh government has been pursuing an agenda to establish comprehensive cooperation with neighboring and regional countries, especially Persian Gulf states," Amir Abdollahian said.
Highlighting Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's "constructive" ideas to create "inclusive regional dialogue", he said such dialogue is aimed at "fostering serious and comprehensive cooperation to help fight extremism and terrorism and bring peace, stability and welfare to the people in the region."
The purpose of Zarif's recent tour of three neighboring countries, namely Kuwait, Qatar and Iraq, was to deliver a message of friendship to promote cooperation and brotherly relations among regional and neighboring states, Amir Abdollahian was quoted by ISNA as telling IRIB News on Tuesday.
***Strategic Error
Asked to comment on recent developments in Yemen, he said he had "explicitly" warned Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir in Jeddah on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation last month that Riyadh's aggression against Yemen is a "fundamental, serious and strategic error."
"I cautioned Jubeir that the move has not contributed to the security of Saudi Arabia and the region, but rather it has complicated the security situation."
A Saudi-led coalition of Arab countries has been conducting airstrikes against Houthi fighters to restore to power fugitive Yemeni president Abd-Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who fled to Saudi Arabia last year after Houthis' advances.
The recent Saudi-backed "seizure of parts of Aden and transfer of forces loyal to Hadi to the city is no final, effective solution," the deputy minister said.
He noted that the Yemeni crisis cannot be resolved unless all groups and persuasions are allowed to play their due part.
"Yemen's political future should be decided collectively through Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue by the people of the country themselves, involving all groups, parties and leading figures."
Iran backs a Yemen which adopts a policy aligned with the shared goal among its "influential and popular" groups to help strengthen regional peace, stability and security, Amir Abdollahian stressed.
He called on Saudi officials to immediately end their blockade on the war-wracked country and shift their focus onto efforts coordinated by the United Nations, aimed at resolving the crisis through diplomatic means.
In response to a question about the true purpose of trips by officials of some non-regional countries to the region, Amir Abdollahian said Iran favors dialogue and interaction between countries but rejects any foreign interference in regional affairs as "unconstructive".
Referring to the recent talks between western and regional countries, he said, "Some parties to the (Arab-western) talks intend to help ease concerns in the region, but others seek to fuel concerns and stir up conflict in this important and strategic region."
