The battle between the Saudis and the Houthis continues to escalate, racking up more casualties on the battlefield. In response, a surprising country offered itself as mediator between the sides—but was ignored, likely because it’s far from neutral and has clear ties to the terrorist organization.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday evening that after offering to serve as mediator, Tehran has yet to receive a response from Saudi Arabia or the Houthis in Yemen regarding its proposal to calm the conflict. “Surely the Houthis have conditions for ending the conflict with the Saudi side, and the Saudis also have their own conditions that the Houthis don’t accept,” he said. “We must offer help and cooperation to bring the positions of both sides closer together.”
1+Despite offering to mediate, Araghchi is not a neutral party between the sides—Iran essentially wants to have its cake and eat it too. It has no interest in the Houthis stopping their attacks and threats against Saudi Arabia, but on the other hand doesn’t want to be seen as someone who could stop the conflict and ask the terrorist organization to cease.
The Houthis are funded and supported by the Iranians and also operate at their request. Araghchi and Iran’s attempt to serve as mediators between the terror organization and the Saudis is designed to try to show that the Houthis are an independent body making decisions on their own. Another goal is to reduce the pressure on them to ask the Houthis to stop attacking the Saudis. Both China and Pakistan have asked Iran in recent weeks to calm the Yemeni terror group—without success.
1+Araghchi’s lack of neutrality was also evident when he noted that Yemen has been under economic siege by Saudi Arabia for years and has suffered from the consequences of the choking blockade for over a decade, before adding: “Now, the Yemeni people believe they have found an opportunity to break this siege. They have imposed a siege on the Saudi side through the use of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.” For the Iranians, there’s no question: the Houthis represent the Yemeni people and not the internationally recognized government, even though 56% of Yemen’s population are Sunni Muslims—whom the government represents.
There’s also an absurd side to the story, as Iran is offering mediation while itself unwilling to accept such mediation. It was reported that in the last day, Qatar and Pakistan offered the Iranians a return to the negotiating table in exchange for billions of dollars that Qatar would release to Tehran, but senior Iranian official Mohsen Rezaei emphasized that a return to talks would only happen after the US restores trust in it, and that “not a single particle of enriched nuclear material will leave Iran.”