Iran and the European on Monday discussed regional issues, particularly the political and humanitarian situation in war-ravaged Yemen.
In the fourth edition of consultations between the two sides in Brussels, Belgium, the negotiators reiterated their strong support for the ongoing political talks in Sweden facilitated by the United Nations special envoy between Yemen’s opposing sides.
The meeting was chaired by Secretary-General of the European External Action Service Helga Schmid and E4 countries (France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom) at the level of political directors.
Hossein Jaberi Ansari, senior assistant to the foreign minister on special political affairs, led the Iranian delegation, the website of EEAS reported.
The discussions also touched on follow-up efforts regarding the peace process on Syria. The participants agreed to meet again within this framework in the near future.
Yemen has been suffering the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian crisis for nearly four years caused by the Saudi-led military coalition's indiscriminate airstrikes on the capital Sanaa, which is controlled by the Houthi movement, in an attempt to reinstate the ousted president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
The UN has set up an initiative to bring the warring sides to the negotiating table. The first attempt in September failed, as the Houthis refused to take part due to lack of security guarantees, but the peace talks eventually got off the ground on Thursday thanks to UN mediation efforts.
UN officials shuttled between delegations from the two sides until they finally held the first direct talks on Sunday. The talks are due to last until Dec. 13 by announcing a deal to release thousands of prisoners, Reuters reported.
Support for UN Initiative
Iran politically backs the Houthi movement but has always pushed for intra-Yemeni talks without foreign interference as the sole viable method to end the crisis.
The Foreign Ministry has voiced Tehran’s support for the UN-sponsored peace talks and expressed readiness to cooperate with the world community for further promoting them.
In a statement ahead of the talks, the ministry called for constructive and responsible participation of all Yemeni parties.
“Iran calls on the parties to take confidence-building steps so as to pave the way for a comprehensive agreement that would end the Yemenis’ pain and suffering,” the document stated.
According to EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, Iran has used its influence on the Houthis to start discussions in Sweden.
“This is the result of the dialogue we have put in place with Iran on regional issues,” she said in a Monday press conference, referring to the high-level Iran-EU consultations.
She attributed the success of Iran-EU talks on regional affairs to Europe’s adherence to the 2015 nuclear deal after the United States scrapped it in May.
US President Donald Trump described the nuclear agreement as “defective at its core”, arguing that it does not address Iran’s ballistic missile program, its nuclear activities beyond 2025 and its role in regional conflicts, including that of Yemen and Syria. He has revived the sanctions lifted under the deal with a stricter force to compel Iranian leaders to negotiate a new deal.
However, the European Union, which is another key party to the accord, has remained committed to the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, maintaining that it is the best means of ensuring peace and security in the region and the world.
The full implementation of JCPOA, according to Mogherini, is the basis of dialogue with Iran on other issues such as those of Trump’s concern.
“We believe that, on the basis of the full and continued implementation of JCPOA through dialogue, we could continue to address other issues that are of serious concern for us, including the ballistic missiles, including Syria, including other issues that we want and we are already discussing with Iran,” she said.
