Iran’s foreign minister to visit Yemen

Al-Shorfa Online and wire services
For Al-Shorfa.com
2009-10-21

Yemeni suspects allegedly belonging to the al-Houthi Shiite Muslim rebel group react following their sentencing at the state security court in Sanaa on Oct. 17. (AFP Photo/Khaled Fazaa)

TEHRAN — Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki plans to visit Yemen to hand President Ali Abdullah Saleh a message from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The Minister said Iran attaches great importance to its relations with Yemen. A top lawmaker, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said that Yemen has called on Iran to send a special envoy to Sana'a to hold talks with the country’s officials on the ongoing conflict between al-Houthi Shiite Muslim rebels in the north and the government.

Boroujerdi added that Ali Akbar Velayati, foreign policy adviser to the Iranian Supreme Leader, has already visited Yemen and discussed the Shiites case with Yemeni officials.

On Oct. 13, Yemeni authorities shut down the Iranian Hospital in Sana'a because it owed more than US$100,000 in accumulated rent to Yemen's Ministry of Endowment and Guidance. Speculation that this action was linked to Iranian spying for the Houthis has been denied.

Mottaki will visit Yemen against the background of numerous Yemeni accusations that some Iranian elements were providing support to the al-Houthi rebels in northern Yemen.

Yemeni authorities assert that many of the arrested al-Houthi loyalists were influenced by materials and CDs about Iran and the Iranian revolution found in their belongings.

The al-Houthi loyalists are in conflict with the government, saying they have been marginalised politically, economically and religiously by the Saudi and Western-backed government.

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