Iran asks UN to recognise Houthi gov’t to end Yemen crisis

Iran has demanded the United Nations recognise the Tehran-backed Houthi government in Yemen in order to end the crisis in the country; Al Jazeera quoted an Iranian official as saying.

The unnamed official told the news channel that recognising the Houthi government in Sanaa will accelerate putting an end to the crisis.

He explained that Iranian officials have informed the UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths who visited Iran this week, that statements made by the newly appointed government of US President Joe Biden are “insufficient”, calling on the US administration to “take steps to stop the war in Yemen”.

READ: UN envoy, Iran’s Zarif discuss how to end war in Yemen

For his part, Griffiths stressed that the current conditions are ripe to stop the war in Yemen and launch peace talks.

Impoverished Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when the Houthis overran much of the country, including the capital, Sanaa. The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

The war, in which the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) back the Saudi-led coalition, has killed more than 100,000 people and pushed millions to the brink of famine, according to the United Nations (UN) official data.