[18/07/2026 04:20]

RIYADH - SABA
President Rashad al-Alimi, Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, met on Saturday with UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg to discuss the latest diplomatic efforts to revive the stalled peace process.

Grundberg briefed the President on his recent consultations and contacts, as well as ongoing coordination with the international community to advance a political settlement based on the agreed peace framework, which the Iran-backed Houthi militia has rejected.

Al-Alimi reaffirmed the government's support for the UN envoy's mediation efforts but said the Houthis had repeatedly undermined opportunities for peace whenever negotiations appeared close to making progress.

He said the militia's political maneuvering had become increasingly transparent because of its alignment with Iran's regional agenda.

Turning to recent developments, the President said the latest crisis was not triggered by Sana'a Airport or claims of a blockade, but by what he described as an attempt to violate Yemen's sovereignty through the operation of an Iranian flight outside the authority of the Yemeni government.

He accused the Houthis of using humanitarian issues as political leverage, warning that their threats and rhetoric amounted to an attempt to pressure the government while risking a broader humanitarian crisis.

Al-Alimi also recalled previous Houthi attacks on oil export facilities in Hadramout and Shabwa, saying they were intended to deprive residents of government-controlled areas of economic opportunities. He argued that the attacks reflected a broader Iranian strategy aimed at obstructing stability and development across the region.

The President stressed that any sustainable peace agreement must reaffirm the state's exclusive sovereign authority, arguing that there could be no lasting settlement while an armed group continued to challenge the government's authority, retain weapons outside state institutions, or claim political, religious, or hereditary legitimacy above the rule of law and the will of the Yemeni people.

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