DUBAI (AP) – A delegation from Yemen’s Houthi rebels has flown into Saudi Arabia for talks with the kingdom on potentially ending the years-long war, officials said.
It remains unclear what terms now are being discussed between Riyadh and the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have held Yemen’s capital of Sanaa since September 2014. But the trip comes after regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran reached a Chinese-mediated détente earlier this year and as there’s been a flurry of diplomatic activity between the different parties in the proxy war.
This latest effort appears to have begun with a visit on Monday to Oman by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
On Thursday, King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed reportedly received letters from Iran’s hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, who is a protégé of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The substance of the letters was not publicly acknowledged by either country, but it came as an Omani delegation visited Houthi officials in Sanaa.
Field Marshal Mahdi al-Mashat, the head of the Houthis’ supreme political council, issued a statement via the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency praising the peace efforts.
“Peace was and remains our first choice, which must be worked on by everyone,” al-Mashat said. “In response to the mediation of Oman, the delegation will go, accompanied by the Omani delegation, to Riyadh to complete consultations with the Saudi side.”
