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Yemen: UN welcomes Houthi offer to end Saudi Arabia attacks Iran warns foreign forces to stay out of Gulf, amid new US deployment
(about 7 hours later)
The UN has welcomed a proposal from Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels to end all attacks on Saudi Arabia as part of a peace initiative. Iran's president has warned that foreign forces are threatening the security of the Gulf, after the US said it was deploying troops to the region.
A statement said the proposal could send "a powerful message of the will to end the war". Hassan Rouhani said foreign forces had always brought "pain and misery" and should not be used in an "arms race".
The offer comes a week after drone and missile strikes hit Saudi Arabian oil facilities. The US is sending more troops to Saudi Arabia after an attack on Saudi oil facilities both nations blame on Iran.
Houthi rebels have claimed to have carried out the attack, but the US and Saudi Arabia have blamed Iran. Mr Rouhani also said Iran would present a new Gulf peace initiative at the United Nations in the coming days.
Tehran denies any involvement in the strikes. This year has seen continuing tension between the US and Iran, following President Donald Trump's abandonment of a deal aimed at limiting Iran's nuclear activities in return for the easing of sanctions.
Yemen's civil war has killed 10,000 and pushed millions to the edge of starvation in what has become the world's worst man-made humanitarian disaster. The latest flashpoint was caused by drone and missile attacks on the Saudi oil facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais on 14 September.
Saudi Arabia and its regional allies drastically escalated the conflict in 2015 when they launched an air campaign against the Houthis, who had ousted President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and seized the capital, Sanaa. Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels said they had carried out the attacks, but both the US and its ally Saudi Arabia - Iran's main regional rival - said Iran was behind them, something Tehran has strongly denied.
What has Mr Rouhani said?
He was speaking on the anniversary of the start of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, and alongside a series of military parades in Tehran and other cities.
"Foreign forces can cause problems and insecurity for our people and for our region," he said in the televised speech.
He called the deployment of such forces in the past a "disaster" and told them to "stay away".
"If they're sincere, then they should not make our region the site of an arms race... The farther you keep yourselves from our region and our nations, the more security there will be."
What about his peace initiative?
The president said it would be presented to the UN, which begins the main part of its general assembly in New York on Tuesday.
However, he gave no details, saying only that peace in the Strait of Hormuz could be achieved "in co-operation with various countries".
Mr Rouhani said Iran was "ready to let go of the past mistakes" made by regional neighbours.
"In this sensitive and important historical moment, we announce to our neighbours, that we extend the hand of friendship and brotherhood to them," he said.
The Houthi rebels in Yemen have also made a peace initiative, saying they would end all attacks on Saudi Arabia provided the kingdom and its allies did the same.
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said in a statement it was important to "take advantage of this opportunity and move forward with all necessary steps to reduce violence, military escalation and unhelpful rhetoric".
What is the US troop deployment?
The Pentagon announced on Friday that, in response to a Saudi request, there would be a moderate deployment to Saudi Arabia, not in the thousands and focused on air and missile defence.
Defence Secretary Mark Esper said: "We will also work to accelerate the delivery of military equipment."
The announcement brought a strong response from Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps - an elite branch of Tehran's military designated a terrorist organisation by the US.
Commander Maj Gen Hossein Salami said: "Whoever wants their land to become the main battlefield, go ahead. Be careful, a limited aggression will not remain limited. We will pursue any aggressor."
What was behind the oil attacks?
The Houthis have repeatedly said they were behind the oil attacks, the Saudis have repeatedly blamed Iran and Tehran has repeatedly denied any involvement.
The attacks had a serious, if not long-term, effect on Saudi oil supplies.
The Saudis have displayed what they say is debris from Iranian-made weapons but have not yet released their full findings.
The Houthis have launched numerous drone, missile and rocket attacks on the Gulf kingdom.The Houthis have launched numerous drone, missile and rocket attacks on the Gulf kingdom.
What have the Houthis offered? It stems from their conflict with a Saudi-led coalition which launched an air campaign in 2015 against the rebels, who had ousted President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and seized the capital, Sanaa.
In a televised announcement, Houthi Supreme Political Council chair Mahdi al-Mashat said the group would end all strikes on Saudi Arabia, provided the kingdom and its allies did the same. The suspicion of Iranian involvement in the oil attacks stems from the more wide-ranging regional rivalry with Saudi Arabia and the antagonism over the abandonment of the nuclear deal.
"We reserve the right to return and respond in the case there is no reaction to our initiative," he said, and called on all parties in Yemen to work towards "comprehensive national reconciliation". The US has also blamed Iran for attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf in June and July, as well as on another four in May. Tehran rejected the accusations in both cases.
On Saturday, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths welcomed the halt on strikes and the calls for a political solution.
"The special envoy stresses the importance of taking advantage of this opportunity and moving forward with all necessary steps to reduce violence, military escalation and unhelpful rhetoric," a statement issued from his office read.
What about the attacks on Saudi oil facilities?
The Houthis have repeatedly claimed responsibility for the attacks on the Abqaiq oil facility and the Khurais oil field on 14 September which affected markets around the world.
But both the Saudis and the US have laid the blame squarely on Iran.
Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir on Saturday said the weapons used were Iranian and vowed to release their full findings.
Speaking to reporters in Riyadh, Mr Jubeir said his government was in consultation with allies and would take "necessary measures" after its investigation was complete, without giving details of possible actions.
"The kingdom calls upon the international community to assume its responsibility in condemning those that stand behind this act, and to take a firm and clear position against this reckless behaviour that threatens the global economy," he said.
The Trump administration backs the Saudi accusations. Unnamed senior officials have told US media that the evidence suggests the strikes originated in the south of Iran.
Officials on Friday announced a moderate deployment of US troops to Saudi Arabia, to help boost its missile and air defences.
But the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard in Iran, Maj Gen Hossein Salami, warned on Saturday that the country's "readiness to respond to any aggression is definitive".
"Be careful, a limited aggression won't remain limited. We'll pursue any aggressor," he said at the opening of an exhibition of captured drones in the capital, Tehran. "We'll continue until the full destruction of any aggressor."
Speaking at the same event, the head of the Guards' aerospace branch, Brig Gen Amirali Hajizadeh, said the US ought to learn from its past failures and that any attack on Iran would receive "a crushing response".
The country's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are an elite branch of Tehran's military and have been designated a terrorist organisation by the US.
Iran, the regional rival of Saudi Arabia, is an opponent of the US, and tensions between the two have risen markedly this year. The US said Iran was behind attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf in June and July, as well as on another four in May - accusations rejected by Tehran.