Iran willing to cooperate with Pakistan on Yemen issue

Baku, Azerbaijan, April 6

By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:

Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli has said that the Iranian government is ready to cooperate with Pakistan to resolve the Yemeni crisis.

Fazli who was speaking in a festival on the occasion of the National Day of Pakistan in Tehran, stated that president Hassan Rouhani administration's foreign policy is to pursue positive relations with regional Muslim countries.

"The Yemeni issue is a domestic one and it can be met with political approaches. We are willing to have the necessary cooperation with Pakistan in resolving regional issues, especially that of Yemen," he said, ISNA news agency reported April 6.

Yemeni population has been trapped in a confrontation between Houthi insurgents and loyalists of Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who is believed to be outside the country.

The Shiite rebels have taken control of several cities and are assaulting the port of Aden, where Hadi had been based before fleeing to Riyadh.

The launch of a Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen on March 25 saw the death toll among the Yemeni population sharply escalate. Some 519 people, including 90 children, have been killed and about 1,700 injured in Yemen since the airstrikes.

The Iranian official also pointed to agreements made during the 19th session of the joint Iran-Pakistan committee in Islamabad and said that Tehran vigorously pursues the implementation of the agreement.

During that session, the two countries had reached agreements on cooperating in security issues, fighting drugs and human trafficking, and regional terrorism.

Before Fazli's speech, Pakistani Ambassador to Tehran Nour Mohammad Jadmani evaluated Iran-Pakistan relations as positive and hoped for evermore positive cooperation between the two neighbor countries.