Iranian military official: Negotiation is the only way for the Saudis to end the war in Yemen

The assistant for operations affairs in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Abbas Neil Foroshan, said that the Saudis have no choice but to negotiate an end to the Yemeni war, noting that “the wisest way is to reach a peaceful agreement.”

In an interview with the Iranian Tasnim Agency published on Tuesday, Foroshan said that the “Yemeni resistance” has developed militarily enough, with reference to the Houthis that Tehran supports in Yemen.

“The enemy cannot defeat the Yemeni resistance front,” he added.

For weeks, indications have been increasing that Saudi Arabia and Iran have made progress towards normalising their relations that have been cut off for more than five years, and easing the confrontation between them.

Saudi and Iranian officials held rounds of talks in Baghdad over the past months, and the two sides recently spoke positively about these talks, the last of which was held on 21 September, while another round is expected to be held soon.

On Wednesday, Bloomberg Agency quoted two well-informed sources as saying that Iran has asked Saudi Arabia to reopen consulates and restore diplomatic relations, as a prelude to ending the war in Yemen.

READ: IOM: 74,000 Yemenis displaced in 2021

Bloomberg reported that, while world powers push for negotiations to revive the Iran nuclear deal, the Islamic Republic has quietly held four rounds of discussions aimed at easing years of tensions with Saudi Arabia. The focus was on Yemen.

Regarding Israel, the Iranian military official said that there is no need for military mobilisation in order to destroy Israel, adding, “We have dealt a blow to the Israeli terrorist networks in the region.”

Foroshan also touched on “the Israeli presence at the borders of Azerbaijan”, saying, “We declared that harbouring our enemies in neighbouring countries is absolutely unacceptable to us, and we must defend our security. The new strategy implemented by the ground forces of the Revolutionary Guards in the northwest is part of defending homeland security.”

Relations have recently been strained between Iran and Azerbaijan, when Iran said that Azerbaijan allows the presence of the Israeli army near the Iranian-Azerbaijani border.

Regarding Afghanistan, Foroshan said, “The Americans are moving ISIS leaders to Afghanistan and running it under their supervision.” He added, “In the future, all powers in the region will have to cooperate and form an alliance with the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Foroshan saw that the Americans have lost the tools to impose their hegemony in the region and are looking for tools and people who can play this role for them in the region. “Americans should either try to flee their bases in the area again at the last minute, or choose the appropriate tactical withdrawal,” he said.

“Whether the Americans like it or not, our region is in a transitional stage from the appropriate geopolitical state for the Americans, to a new geo-economic state, and the signs of that are quite clear,” Tasnim agency quoted him as saying.

He continued, “The USA used all its capabilities and capabilities of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) to fight the Afghan people, and spent billions of dollars; Does it seem logical, to leave at once and voluntarily from this country and lose its largest base in the region after 20 years of fighting in Afghanistan ? The occupation of Afghanistan was not just an occupation of one country; it was a major base for the American presence in the region.”

He added that it is important to pay attention to what their alternative plan is, noting that the Americans are certainly looking for new solutions and their only goal is to preserve the entity of Israel.