Iran's foreign minister due in Pakistan to discuss Yemen

[Devil Soul]

Iran's foreign minister due in Pakistan to discuss Yemen
By Reuters
Published: April 8, 2015

ISLAMABAD: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was due in Pakistan on Wednesday and is likely to urge it to reject a request to join a Saudi-led campaign against Iran-allied Houthi forces in Yemen.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called on Tuesday for Iran to get involved in talks on security in Yemen as parliament debated whether Pakistan should join the Saudi-led operation.

The debate resumes on Wednesday.

Zarif has repeatedly said the conflict in Yemen should be overcome through dialogue and not firepower. Other countries accuse Iran of using the conflict as a cover to expand its regional influence.

“All countries must work toward establishing stability and preventing the spread of insecurity in the region,” Zarif said last month.

The royal family of Saudi Arabia and Iran’s theocracy are rivals for power in the Middle East. Their competition frequently fuels sectarian violence.

Last month, a Saudi-led coalition began conducting air strikes in Yemen against Houthi rebels allied with Iran. Saudi Arabia and Yemen share a border and Saudi Arabia says it is afraid that instability might spill over to its territory.

Saudi Arabia wants its staunch ally, Pakistan, to join the coalition, and has requested ships, aircraft and troops.

The parliament began debating the request on Monday and legislators have been united in the view that Pakistan should not send troops for the Saudis to use in Yemen.

Although there are many groups in the complex Yemen conflict, lawmakers fear it could develop into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and inflame already simmering sectarian tension at home.

Pakistan shares a long, porous border with Iran in its gas- and mineral-rich southwestern province of Balochistan, where rebels have for years been battling the government.

Iran has proposed building an export pipeline to gas-starved Pakistan, a project postponed because of the threat of US sanctions and Pakistan’s lack of cash and investors.

Eight Iranian border guards were killed in southeast Iran in a cross-border militant raid near the frontier with Pakistan on Monday, Iranian media reported.

Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province has long been plagued by unrest from both drug gangs and militants. The population of the province is predominantly Sunni.

Prime Minister Nawaz has said he will defend Saudi Arabia’s “territorial integrity” but not spelled out what, if any, commitments he has made. On Tuesday, Nawaz told lawmakers Iran should be part of the debate.

 

[AhsanAmin]

The best solution to Yemen Problem is to propose/or even force Iran and KSA along with other regional countries to abide by the following principles.

1. The new government will be made by fair general elections.

2. The government will be asked to make a constitution that does not treat any minority unfairly and all the rights of every minority as equal citizens of Yemen will be completely protected. There should be some independent judicial council or some other well thought out mechanism decided by the belligerents and regional countries that stops the majority government from violating the rights of any minorities in Yemen.

3. No foreign country, either KSA or Iran, will try to interfere (militarily or using money) in the workings of the government of Yemen and the country will maintain good relations with both countries.

 

[Screambowl]

https://twitter.com/x/status/585780929290833922

https://twitter.com/x/status/585774807700078592

 

[Dalit]

Futile exercise, unless Iran and Saudi Arabia are bluntly told to stop aiding militant groups against each other. As said, crux of the entire problem.

 

[Edevelop]

Iran's FM backs political solution to Yemen crisis

ISLAMABAD: Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif emphasised the need for a political solution to the Yemen conflict after his meeting with prime minister’s adviser on foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz, at the Foreign Office on Wednesday.

Addressing a joint press conference with Aziz, Zarif said Pakistan and Iran should cooperate to solve the crisis in Yemen.

“We need to work together to find a political solution,” Zarif said during a visit to Islamabad in which he was expected to urge Pakistan to reject the Saudi request to join a military operation against Houthi forces in Yemen.

Responding to a question, Zarif said his talks with Turkey, Oman, and now Pakistan revolved around four major lines: “ceasefire, humanitarian assistance, intra-Yemeni dialogue and broad-based government.”

“It is up to Yemen how it wants to do it. We can only facilitate as countries in the region… but these are the four lines on which my [Iran’s] government has been operating,” said the Iranian foreign minister.

“The people of Yemen should not have to face aerial bombardment,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Sartaj Aziz said a ceasefire alone will not be a solution to the problem in Yemen. “A more comprehensive resolution on facilitating an intra-Yemeni dialogue, which is also approved by the United Nations, can help in finding a political settlement to this tragic situation,” said Aziz.

Zarif arrived in Pakistan for a two-day visit earlier in the day amid heightened regional diplomacy over Yemen. Soon after arrival, Zarif met adviser to the PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and shared details of the Iran-Turkey talks held in Tehran yesterday.

The Iranian foreign minister is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday.

Zarif reached Islamabad from Oman, where he had gone for consultations on “the humanitarian plight in Yemen and regional developments”, according to the Iranian foreign ministry.

Know more: Iran, Turkey agree on the need to stop Yemen war: Rouhani.

The Iranian foreign minister is leading a 22-member delegation, which includes Deputy Foreign Minister Ibrahim Rahimpour, DG West Asia Affairs Rasool Islami and a media adviser.

In Islamabad, besides the Yemen crisis, Mr Zarif will also discuss the state of bilateral ties, particularly the old sore spot in the relationship — the cross-border terrorism allegedly by Pakistan-based groups in the Iranian province of Sistan-Balochestan.

The killing of eight Iranian guards on Monday along the border with Pakistan has renewed Iranian concerns.

“The visit will be in the framework of strengthening bilateral relations, surveying the regional and international developments, and boosting Iran-Pakistan border security,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Marzieh Afkham said.

Mr Zarif has also requested a meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, according to a Pakistani official involved in preparations for the trip.

His visit has been on the cards for a few weeks, but got delayed because of negotiations with P5+1 over the nuclear programme. Taking place against the backdrop of Yemen conflict and Pakistan’s much speculated participation in the Saudi-led military coalition, the Iranian officials say that Yemen would dominate the agenda.

Iran has been expressing its interest in working with Pakistan on ending the Yemen dispute.

“We are willing to have necessary cooperation with Pakistan in the settlement of regional issues, particularly the issue of Yemen,” Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said at a ceremony at Pakistan Embassy in Tehran on Sunday night.

Talking to Iranian official news agency IRNA, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Iran Noor Mohammad Jademani expressed the hope for a peaceful settlement of the Yemen crisis and said that peace in Yemen was in the interest of the entire Muslim world.

Iranian border guards fire mortar shells

Iranian border guards reportedly fired three mortar shells in Pakistani territory close to the porous border between the two neighbours.

A security official requesting anonymity told DawnNews that three mortar shells fired by Iranian border guards on Wednesday afternoon landed in Zaamran area of district Kech. A sense of panic prevailed in the area following the attack. Fortunately, no human loss was reported.

Frontier Crops and Levies personnel reached the area and started investigation into the incident. Security was tightened at the border following the attack.

Meanwhile, Pakistani and Iranian officials met at the border to discuss ways and means to avoid occurrence of any untoward incident in future. Senior officers of both countries decided to increase security at the porous border to ensure legal movement and peace at the border.

Deputy Commissioner Kech and senior officers of law enforcement agencies participated in the meeting with their Iranian counterparts.

Iran's FM backs political solution to Yemen crisis - Pakistan - DAWN.COM