Yemeni FM to Asharq Al-Awsat: UN Envoy Will Realize Futility of Peace Talks with Houthis

Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani. (Getty Images)
Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani. (Getty Images)
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Yemeni FM to Asharq Al-Awsat: UN Envoy Will Realize Futility of Peace Talks with Houthis

Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani. (Getty Images)
Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani. (Getty Images)

Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani said that his government was awaiting United Nations special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths’ invitation to attend consultations in Geneva in September.

He stressed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the legitimate government was prepared to “go all the way” with the talks.

The envoy will eventually reach a personal conviction that peace cannot be reached with the Iran-backed Houthis, he added, noting that his predecessor, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, made the same conclusion and announced it before the UN Security Council.

Efforts to build trust must be exerted before taking any measures and this message was clearly delivered to Griffiths by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.

These efforts must include the release of prisoners and delivery of aid, which is being looted on a daily basis by the Houthis, he explained.

“There are many trust-building steps that we had spoken about in Geneva and at the Kuwait talks in the past, but the Houthis did not agree to them,” he said.

Furthermore, Yamani said that the Houthis are using children and civilian detainees and captives as human shields.

This was demonstrated during last week’s bus attack in Saada, he noted. The militias know that the Saudi-led Arab coalition would not target a bus that is transporting children.

“Much has been said about this incident despite a lack of real information. This region does not have schools, so where did the children come from? Where were they going?” he asked.

“As I mentioned, the militias are using children as shields, to protect them from coalition strikes, in violation of international law,” the minister charged. The West is choosing to ignore these facts.

On whether the government would reject Griffiths’ invitation to attend the Geneva consultations should the agenda include articles it does not want to discuss, Yamani said: “We should not get ahead of ourselves.”

He recalled how the government had previously warned Ould Cheikh against believing the Houthis, citing that their leader, Abdulmalik al-Houthi, had been blacklisted.

“We had explained to him that these gangs would not yield to the peace conditions because they are a product of Iranian experts and [Lebanon’s] ‘Hezbollah’,” he said.

In addition, he stressed that his government refuses to discuss the proposal on the Hodeidah province at the Geneva meeting.

It will not hold negotiations over this issue because the Houthis have so far refused to withdraw from the province. The main condition in the Hodeidah proposal revolves around the militias’ pullout.

“Why are they rejecting the proposal? The government will present this question to the international community,” Yamani added to Asharq Al-Awsat.

Moreover, he said that Griffiths must take into consideration the consultations that had taken place in Kuwait in 2016.

“We were on the verge of reaching a comprehensive agreement …., but the Houthis, at Iran’s instruction, withdrew from the negotiations and refused to sign the agreement,” he noted.

Addressing foreign meddling in Yemen’s affairs, Yamani said that his ministry was exerting major efforts to confront this interference, especially in regards to Lebanon.

The foreign ministry had filed a complaint to Beirut in July over “Hezbollah’s” meddling in Yemen and was planning on filing lawsuits against all Houthi media outlets operating in Lebanon.

These outlets, he said, were operating illegally and backed by “Hezbollah”.

He noted that the Lebanese political class overwhelmingly supports Yemen and “we will therefore, exercise our right to defend our interests to the end. We cannot allow the terrorist ‘Hezbollah’ to carry out such actions.”



UK, Saudi Arabia to Work Together on Critical Minerals, Clean Energy

Part of the annual International Ministerial Meeting on Mining in Riyadh - Asharq Al-Awsat
Part of the annual International Ministerial Meeting on Mining in Riyadh - Asharq Al-Awsat
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UK, Saudi Arabia to Work Together on Critical Minerals, Clean Energy

Part of the annual International Ministerial Meeting on Mining in Riyadh - Asharq Al-Awsat
Part of the annual International Ministerial Meeting on Mining in Riyadh - Asharq Al-Awsat

The UK Minister of State for Industry, Sarah Jones, revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat a plan to enhance cooperation with Saudi Arabia in clean energy industries and advanced manufacturing. She announced plans to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kingdom to support UK's new Industrial Strategy.

Jones is leading a delegation of 16 companies taking part in The Future Minerals Forum (FMF), a two-day international mining conference held in Riyadh.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, on the sidelines of the Fourth Annual International Ministerial Meeting on Mining, held in conjunction with the conference, Jones described the conference as the most significant critical minerals event in the Middle East and North Africa, emphasizing its importance as an opportunity to boost UK-Saudi ties, following Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit last December.

Below is the full text of the interview:

Why are you attending the Future Minerals Forum at KSA?

Not only is the Future Minerals Forum the most significant critical minerals event in the Middle East and North Africa region, I see it as a valuable opportunity to strengthen our relationship with Saudi Arabia following Prime Minister Kier Starmer’s visit in December.
I’ll be signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Saudi Arabia to boost collaboration between our nations as we recognise the importance of critical minerals for our national security, benefitting economic growth which is our number one priority in government.
I’m also meeting Saudi businesses, international companies and a range of stakeholders, to highlight that the UK is a truly global economy. We’re open for business and determined to deliver investment into infrastructure and our supply chains to achieve the economic growth we need in every part of the UK.

What are you hoping to achieve from this visit?

Through signing this partnership with Saudi Arabia, we’re supporting the work the UK is doing with our new Industrial Strategy. As part of this 10-year plan, we have identified eight high-growth sectors, including clean energy industries and advanced manufacturing, to prioritise in growing the economy. We are proudly outward-looking and internationalist, and this Strategy will deliver the long-term stability and certainty businesses and investors need to show the UK is a mature trading partner.
We can boost growth further by increasing domestic production through mining, midstream processing and through recycling critical minerals, building on world-leading innovation and technical expertise in our chemicals and metals sectors.
As the Minister for Industry, I’m promoting these opportunities to major mining companies from the UK and Saudi Arabia, exploring the areas for collaboration throughout the supply chain.

What are the opportunities for the UK and Saudi working together on critical minerals?

Critical minerals are essential for a wide range of everyday items from cars to smartphones, and by 2040, the UK will need four times as many of them as we do today.
That’s why I’m leading a trade mission of 16 UK companies to showcase their expertise on the world stage here in Riyadh, where they will meet partners and potentially new customers from around the globe.
With Saudi Arabia’s ambitious plans for critical minerals under Vision 2030, and the UK’s new Critical Minerals Strategy coming later this year, we can forge closer ties and support each other’s ambitions with investment in lithium, tin and tungsten mining in the UK, as well as in the midstream processing for rare earths.
There are several other opportunities for the UK and Saudi to work together to secure our supply chains, including through our Centres of Excellence, joint critical minerals projects, and with investment into the critical minerals supply chain.

What does the MoU signing mean for the UK-KSA economic relationship and for the wider UK-Gulf relationship?

Through signing this agreement with Saudi Arabia, we’re showing our strong intent to deepen our collaboration on critical minerals. Even with increased domestic production, the UK will still rely on imports of critical minerals. That’s why it's vital that by developing our UK-Saudi economic relationship, we will meet our needs and help diversify our critical mineral supply chains.
The Memorandum of Understanding will provide us a framework for deepening cooperation, and we look forward to working with Saudi Arabia to develop this into new collaborative projects.

What will the new Critical Minerals Strategy focus on and what do you hope it will achieve?

Our new Critical Minerals Strategy will be released this year and will be more ambitious, more targeted and more international than previous strategies.
To drive growth and investment into our most important sectors, we need to ensure resilience for critical minerals by maximising domestic production through mining, refining, and recycling – and that means working together with countries like Saudi Arabia to maximise the opportunities in securing the supply chain.
Through building on the already established partnerships like Saudi Arabia, and new relationships with other partners, we're ensuring that we’re supporting the industries of tomorrow, delivering for businesses and creating new jobs across the UK.

What about the coming Great Future for the two nations?

The GREAT FUTURES launch event in May was a huge success in so far as it supported multiple partnerships between UK and Saudi businesses on projects that are now delivering tangible results for both our Kingdoms. The UK led a delegation of 450 businesses, the largest UK trade mission in a decade, and the largest ever from the UK to The Kingdom. This resulted in more than 50 MoU’s and agreements signed across various priority sectors, with Ministers from both countries agreeing to grow total trade from £17bn in 2022 to £30bn by 2030.

We’re now capitalising on that success with a 12-month program of events that will provide more opportunities for UK-Saudi collaboration across priority sectors such as trade, investment, tourism, education and cultural engagement, all in support of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. In addition to these programs, we aim to deliver a one year on summit in London this summer to mark one year since the campaign began. This landmark event will once again convene UK and Saudi senior government and business decision-makers to develop further partnerships between our two countries, while reaffirming and strengthening our bilateral relationship.