Iran Optimistic For A Ceasefire In Yemen In Coming Hours

Rockets fly from missile base which was hit by an air strike in Yemen's capital Sanaa

Iran’s deputy foreign minister said he was optimistic that a ceasefire in Yemen would be announced later on Tuesday, in a sign diplomatic efforts may be underway to stop almost a month of Saudi-led bombing of Yemen’s Houthi group. Reuters have more:

Iran has repeatedly called for a halt to an almost month-long campaign of air strikes by Saudi Arabia and Arab allies, but members of the coalition and their Western backers have so far rejected Iran’s proposals, accusing it of supporting the Houthis.

“We are optimistic that in the coming hours, after many efforts, we will see a halt to military attacks in Yemen,” Hossein Amir Abdollahian was quoted as saying by Iranian news agencies.

Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition of Arab countries in a bombing campaign against the Houthis and allied military units loyal to the powerful former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who have taken swathes of territory and forced Yemen’s Saudi-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile.

“Iranian proposals are not being addressed at the moment,” one Yemeni official said on condition of anonymity. Another Yemeni official said representatives of Saleh’s party had made peace proposals to the government in exile but suggested the rebel forces would have to meet further conditions before the government would accept.