United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg warned on Friday that the country was at “greater risk of renewed large-scale conflict than at any point since the UN-brokered truce of April 2022.”
In a statement, he said the latest attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi group in Marib and Hadramawt, “which reportedly caused significant casualties, including civilians, add to the renewed attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.”
He also expressed concern by strikes on civilian infrastructure, including airports, and heightened regional tensions.
“Taken together, these developments risk jeopardizing the gains of the 2022 truce, reflected in the relative calm that has held inside Yemen in recent years, while also drawing the country into a broader regional confrontation, with devastating consequences for its people,” Grundberg said.
He said that over the past week, he had “engaged intensively with the Yemeni parties, regional actors and international partners to explore concrete options for de-escalation and reversing the current trajectory.”
“I remain convinced that a diplomatic path remains available,” he declared. “It will require political will, difficult choices and genuine engagement from the parties.”
“This approach offers the only realistic path to addressing the core concerns of the parties, while delivering tangible benefits for Yemenis: military de-escalation; improved economic stability, including with regard to freedom of movement for people and goods; and steps toward an inclusive political process that can comprehensively end the conflict,” stressed the envoy.
“I call on the parties to exercise maximum restraint, stop actions that encourage military retaliation, and engage in good-faith negotiations under UN auspices,” he urged.
“With the support of regional actors and international partners, such a path preserves the opportunity for a negotiated way out. The UN will continue to support the parties and stand with the Yemeni people in the pursuit of a peaceful resolution to the conflict.”
