Iran's government on Friday called for an end to Saudi Arabia's blockade of Yemen and the immediate resumption of talks, in its first public statement since Iran-backed Houthi rebels entered a key Yemeni port – according to sources speaking to the AP, and news agencies – and intensified their threat to a key global shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz. In a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency, Iran's foreign ministry said Yemen's sovereignty must be respected and its problems cannot be resolved through a blockade or military alliances. Iran also said it was ready to help support negotiations.
Meanwhile, experts say the developments in Yemen could give Tehran more leverage in any negotiations with the United States after over six months of war. The Houthis' entry into the Red Sea port of Mokha on Thursday brings them within 50 miles of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, an important alternative for global shipping as Iran targets vessels on the Strait of Hormuz. It's the rebels' biggest territorial gain in years.
Yemen's special envoy to the United Nations called on support from the international community after the Iran-backed Houthi militant group seized control of the Red Sea port city of Mokha. "This renewed war should alarm us all," Hans Grundberg, the U.N. special envoy for Yemen, warned at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Thursday.
"It effectively marks the end of the relative calm that Yemen has experienced for over four years since the U.N.-brokered truce," Grundberg said. He called on the international community to address this "new and more dangerous phase – one whose consequences, if left unchecked, will not stay within Yemen's borders." The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have entered Yemen's strategic Red Sea port city of Mokha, two local residents told The on Thursday. A Yemeni military source told the news agency earlier on Thursday that the Houthis had taken the city.
Four government military sources made the same assertion to the news agency. Ambassador Abdullah Al-Saadi said a single Yemen state with a monopoly on weapons that has sovereignty throughout the country, which the government is seeking, is "a fundamental guarantee" for security for Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the region. He called on the Security Council to condemn the Houthis' military escalation and to implement measures "prohibiting the supply of arms, components, technology, and military expertise to the militia" which are fueling the conflict.
Ambassador Abdulaziz Alwasil said that the kingdom remains supportive of peace in Yemen but that it would "take all measures necessary to deter Houthi attacks." Alwasil warned that "the kingdom's commitment to de-escalation and to supporting a political solution must not be allowed to become an opportunity that this militia exploits to continue its attacks and to threaten the security of the kingdom and the region." Diesel prices in the U.S. have passed a painful new milestone for the transportation industry: $6 a gallon, a surge experts said is likely to have ripple effects for consumers as businesses pass on their higher energy costs. The national average for a gallon of diesel rose to a record $6.05 on Thursday, up more than 60% from $3.71 a year ago, according to data from AAA. Diesel is widely used in trucking and rail, affecting the cost of transporting goods around the U.S., as well as in construction and farming.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
