Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (R) and Mohammed Abdulsalam, who is the chief negotiator of Yemen’s National Salvation Government, meet in the Omani capital of Muscat on January 10, 2022.

Iran’s foreign minister says the future outlook of the war-torn Yemen must be determined by the country’s own people through talks among all Yemeni groups.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks in a Monday meeting with Mohammed Abdulsalam, who is the chief negotiator of Yemen’s National Salvation Government, in the Omani capital of Muscat.

He expressed regret over the continuation of the war imposed on the Yemeni people and stressed the need for an end to the country’s siege and war.

The top Iranian diplomat said current problems in Yemen should be settled through diplomatic channels in cooperation with all Yemenis, adding that the country’s political future can be determined only through intra-Yemeni talks.

Abdulsalam, for his part, extended his condolences to the Iranian government and people over the passing away of Iran’s Ambassador to Sana’a Hassan Irloo due to COVID-19 infection.

He hailed Iran’s support for the Yemeni people and briefed the Iranian foreign minister on the latest developments in the war-ravaged country.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies, including the United Arab Emirates, launched the brutal war against Yemen in March 2015 to eliminate Yemen’s popular Houthi Ansarullah movement and reinstall former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.

The war, accompanied by a tight siege, has failed to reach its goals, killing hundreds of thousands of Yemeni people instead.

The UN says more than 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger. It says the situation in Yemen amounts to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The Saudi war has also taken a heavy toll on Yemen’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories.

Late last month, the United Nations special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg strongly condemned Saudi Arabia’s military escalation against various targets across the impoverished country, including the capital Sana’a.

He warned that violations of the international humanitarian and human rights law in Yemen could not continue with impunity, saying, The escalation in recent weeks is among the worst we have seen in Yemen for years and the threat to civilian lives is increasing.