In a statement on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh welcomed the peace initiative offered by the head of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council.
He said the plan that Sana’a has put forward with goodwill has a strong signal of the firm determination to end the war, end the cruel siege of the Yemeni people, and settle the Yemen crisis politically.
“Serious and positive interaction with it (the peace initiative) could prepare a suitable ground for ending the ongoing war,” the Iranian spokesman added.
He expressed hope that the beginning of the Muslim month of Ramadhan would make the humanitarian issues in Yemen a priority, help advance the prisoner swap plans, and result in the cessation of hostilities and establishment of national reconciliation in the Arab country.
On Saturday, Mahdi al-Mashat, head of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council, announced a voluntary and unilateral three-day pause in retaliatory strikes against targets in Saudi Arabia.
“The ceasefire will be observed across all ground, aerial, and naval fronts for three days,” the official said.
Yemen is prepared to “make the ceasefire permanent” if Saudi Arabia stops its attacks against Yemen and lifts the blockade of the country, takes all foreign forces out of Yemeni soil and waters, and stops supporting local militants, Mashat said.
He also noted that Yemen is ready to release all of the Saudi-led coalition’s prisoners of war, including the brother of former Yemeni president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, “in exchange for the freedom of all of our prisoners.”
A Saudi-led coalition has been waging a devastating war against Yemen since March 2015 with the aim of reinstating the country’s former Riyadh-allied officials.
The war has stopped short of its goals while killing thousands of Yemenis in the process and turning the entire Yemen into the scene of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.