The UN considers the “great” agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia an “opportunity”

March 16 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The United Nations has considered this Wednesday that the resumption of bilateral relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, broken in 2016, is “an opportunity”, considering that it is a “great agreement” in diplomatic terms.

The spokesman for the Secretary General of the United Nations, Stéphane Dujarric, after being asked at a press conference about the agreement, has assured that it is “good news”, at the same time that he has maintained that he hopes that “this will create a favorable climate for consecrate a political path towards peace in Yemen”.

In this sense, the UN envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, has expressed himself, who has “welcomed with satisfaction the recent agreement” between Riyadh and Tehran “to resume diplomatic ties, which has been mediated by China.”

“This dialogue and good neighborly relations are important for the region and for Yemen. The parties must seize the opportunity provided by this regional and international momentum to take decisive steps towards a more peaceful future,” Grundberg said.

“This requires patience and a long-term perspective. And this requires courage and leadership. Much has been achieved in the last year and now is the time to take the next steps,” added the UN envoy.

Grundberg made these statements before the United Nations Security Council, to which he explained that the diplomatic efforts in Yemen have provided a year of relative calm, although the truce — of the conflict that is close to a decade old and has caused a massive humanitarian emergency– officially expired in October and has been renewed several times since.

The deal restores diplomatic relations between Tehran and Riyadh, broken in 2016 after an attack on Saudi missions in Iran by protesters calling for a stop to the execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

The Iranian authorities have indicated that this rapprochement will accelerate the achievement of a ceasefire in Yemen, where both countries are indirectly locked through the civil war, where Riyadh supports the Yemeni government while Tehran does the same with the Huthi insurgency.