Iran's mission to the United Nations said on Sunday that a breakthrough agreement with Saudi Arabia restoring bilateral relations will help bring a political settlement to Yemen's yearslong war, The Associated Press reported Sunday.
Iran announced on Friday that it had agreed to restore diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia.
The two countries will reopen their embassies in Riyadh and Tehran within 60 days, Iranian media reported, claiming that the deal was reached during a recent meeting in China.
The Islamic Republic and Saudi Arabia have not had formal diplomatic ties since an attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and a Saudi consulate in Mashhad. That attack prompted Saudi Arabia to expel Iran's mission in Riyadh. The attacks in Tehran and Mashhad came in response to the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia.
Iran and Yemen have been on opposing sides in the conflict in Yemen. Saudi Arabia has been leading a military coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognized government, while Iran has aided the country’s Houthi rebels.
It has long been believed that Iran is planning to use the Houthis to take over Yemen and seize the key strategic port of Aden, which controls the entrance to the Red Sea and ultimately to the Israeli resort city of Eilat.
Iran denies it is backing the Houthis and has also denied Saudi Arabian accusations that Tehran provided the Houthi rebels in Yemen with ballistic capabilities.
Citing a statement from Iran’s UN mission, IRNA news agency said the deal with Saudi Arabia would accelerate efforts to renew an expired ceasefire deal, “help start a national dialogue, and form an inclusive national government in Yemen.”
The Houthis appeared to welcome the deal, slamming at the same time the US and Israel.
“The region needs the return of normal relations between its countries, through which the Islamic society can regain its lost security as a result of the foreign interventions, led by the Zionists and Americans,” said Mohamed Abdulsalam, the rebels’ spokesman and chief negotiator, according to AP.