Achieving a ceasefire is the most critical humanitarian measure for Yemen, said Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmed bin Mubarak, urging the international community to focus on the matter despite Iran-backed Houthi militias rejecting the notion.
Mubarak’s remark comes at a time the UN’s new Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg has presented his first brief to the UN Security Council around the efforts spent to accomplish a breakthrough for the protracted crisis in Yemen.
Even though Yemen’s internationally recognized government hopes that its efforts for mobilizing international pressure, especially from the West, would bring Houthis to accept upholding a ceasefire, the Iran-backed group continues to escalate its military campaign against the oil-rich governorate of Marib.
On Friday, Mubarak had met with Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde and discussed bilateral ties and means of boosting them. The two ministers also tackled the chances for peace in Yemen and other topics of common interest.
According to the Yemeni “Saba” news agency, Mubarak voiced his country’s appreciation of Sweden’s efforts to bring peace to Yemen and renewed the government’s full commitment and support to Grundberg’s mission.
While Mubarak stressed the importance of the new UN envoy benefiting from the experience of his predecessors to achieve tangible progress on peacemaking efforts in Yemen, he confirmed that an armistice is the most significant humanitarian measure that must be focused on to get to peace.
“Houthi rejection of peace initiatives calls for a unified position from the international community to pressure them and compel them to engage in the political process,” said Mubarak.
“Their continued escalation in Marib, their siege on Taiz, and their tampering with the navigational and environmental security in the Red Sea by using the “Safer” oil tanker for political blackmail are only indications for the Houthi militia’s unwillingness for peace,” explained the minister.
