Iran welcomes prisoner swap deal in Yemen

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday welcomed a recent agreement between Yemen’s Ansarullah movement and the Saudi-backed former government to exchange more than 1,000 prisoners, urging both sides to take immediate action to implement the deal.

"This agreement showed that the Yemeni-Yemeni talks are the only way to resolve that country's existing problems," Spokesman of the Foreign Ministry Saeed Khatibzadeh said, per IRNA.

He referred to the agreement as a step forward to help reach a peaceful settlement for the ongoing problem in Yemen.

The spokesman expressed hope that the agreement would pave the grounds for holding political talks in Yemen, freedom of the remaining prisoners, and end of war and aggression in Yemen.

Yemen's warring parties agreed to exchange around 1,000 prisoners, including 15 Saudis, as part of trust-building steps aimed at reviving a stalled peace process, the United Nations and sources said on Sunday.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since the Western-backed coalition intervened in March 2015 to restore a government that resigned in late 2014 and drive the Houthis out of the capital Sana’a.

Source: Iran Daily