🔶 Dialogue between Iran and Saudi foreign ministers as fighting intensifies in Yemen

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, and Faisal bin Farhan, his Saudi counterpart, held a phone call at the same time as fighting escalated in Yemen.

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the two sides on Thursday evening, 19 Shahrivar (10 September), discussed “the escalation of tensions and increased insecurity in the region” and emphasized continued cooperation and diplomatic efforts to prevent tensions from spreading and to restore stability.

In its statement, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not directly mention the fighting in Yemen. However, Tehran, in a separate statement about developments in Yemen, said that the Yemen crisis cannot be resolved through military intervention.

The phone call took place as clashes between Iran-backed Houthis and Yemen’s legitimate government forces have intensified.

On Thursday, the Houthis took control of the port city and the strategic road along the Red Sea coast of Makader, and Saudi Arabia has also increased airstrikes against the group’s positions.

On Friday, it was also reported that the Houthis had reached the key island of Perim in the Bab al-Mandab.