Iran has offered to mediate between Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia, as clashes between the two escalate following a Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia that caused mass casualties.
The Iranian foreign minister's office said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made the offer during a phone call a day earlier with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, according to a report by The New York Times on the 12th.
In a statement on his Telegram channel, Araghchi underscored his willingness to mediate. "If a military approach is insisted upon and political solutions are ignored, the current situation will become even more complicated," he said. "Iran is ready to provide any support to help talks begin between the two sides." The Saudi government confirmed that the two foreign ministers spoke by phone but made no mention of Iran's mediation offer.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei also said at a regular briefing that Tehran was "deeply concerned" about the Houthi attack on the airport in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, over the weekend.
"We express serious concern over developments unfolding on the Arabian Peninsula," Baghaei said. "We have stated on multiple occasions that we are ready to make every effort to facilitate dialogue between the parties and to offer our good offices." He also said tensions in the Middle East "only benefit the Zionist regime," referring to Israel.
Baghaei expressed regret that the dispute had not been settled earlier. "This issue should have been resolved long ago through an agreement between Yemen and Saudi Arabia," he said. "There was a road map agreed between the two sides at the time, and Iran supported its full implementation, but it ultimately did not come to fruition."
The Houthi attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on the 10th and 11th of this month killed at least 14 people and injured about 300.