Iran Calls for U.N.-sponsored Talks on Yemen

Iran's foreign minister called Wednesday for a Yemen-owned dialogue sponsored by the United Nations to end fighting that has killed hundreds in the country since late March.

"Everybody in Yemen should engage in a dialogue without preconditions and I do not believe that is taking place in the UAE, because the UAE unfortunately became part of the conflict," said Mohammad Javad Zarif.

"It has to take place in a place that is not a party to this conflict."

A Saudi-led coalition of Sunni Arab states launched air strikes on March 26 against Huthi Shiite rebels whom Riyadh accuses Tehran of arming.

The United Nations says more than 1,000 people have been killed in fighting in Yemen since late March, when Riyadh assembled the coalition in support of the country's exiled president.

Zarif said the talks should include everyone in Yemen and lead to a broad based government that has good relations with its neighbors.

"It should be a Yemeni-owned and a Yemeni-operated process. We can facilitate," he told an audience at New York University.

He recalled the Bonn conference, held under U.N. auspices, that paved the way for an Afghan government after the 2001 U.S.-led invasion brought down the Taliban.

"I think Yemen should be the same and I think the United Nations has enough experience to lead that, and we've been talking to them and I hope they can do it," he added.

Zarif described the situation in Yemen as "dire" and said the humanitarian situation was "catastrophic."