Iran has welcomed a call by prominent Muslim political figures calling for a halt to the war in Yemen for three months.
“The Iranian government has always supported and will continue to support any plan that will help end the conflict in the Arab country through dialogue and political means,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said in remarks published on Tuesday.
He commended the responsibility and foresight of the political figures, saying Tehran is ready to contribute to the implementation of the proposal.
At the weekend 19 Arab political, intellectual and academic figures appealed to the people of Yemen to call for a three-month truce, followed by an international-sponsored dialogue to stop the bloody fighting that has killed close to 14,000 people mostly civilians, iuvmpress.com reported.
A senior leader of Yemen’s Ansar Allah group responded positively to the initiative, calling on the Arab figures who announced the initiative to “visit Yemen for a discussion and to get to know everything closely and know the Yemeni reality.”
*** Redoubled Efforts
The official called on all Muslim governments to intensify their efforts to help stop the four-year-old war.
"Soon after the start of the brutal war Iran demanded an immediate end to the fighting and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif laid out a four-point plan," Qasemi added, referring to a peace plan for Yemen submitted by the minister to the UN in 2015.
The plan calls for a ceasefire and immediate end to military hostilities, unimpeded urgent humanitarian and medical assistance to the people of Yemen, resumption of Yemeni-led and Yemeni-managed national dialogue with the participation of all political parties and social groups, and establishment of an inclusive national unity government.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman said the implementation of the proposed roadmap can be an effective step toward a cessation of hostilities and lasting peace in the pauperized country.
Zarif presented the proposal after a Saudi-led coalition of Arab countries launched a military intervention in Yemen.
The war has killed thousands of people, displaced millions and pushed the country—the poorest in the Arabian world—on the verge of famine.
