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World

Iran says Saudi Arabia should not be hosting Yemen talks since it's part of the conflict

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    Smoke rises from al-Qahira castle, an ancient fortress that was recently taken over by Shiite rebels, following a Saudi-led airstrike in Taiz city, Yemen, Tuesday, May 12, 2015. Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition kept up their airstrikes in Yemen on Tuesday, targeting the positions of Shiite rebels and their allies just hours ahead of the scheduled start of a five-day humanitarian cease-fire. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik) (The Associated Press)

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    An armed man looks at graffiti artists spraying on a wall to commemorate the victims who were killed in Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, May 18, 2015. Saudi-led airstrikes targeting Yemen's Shiite rebels resumed early on Monday in the southern port city of Aden after a five-day truce expired amid talks on the war-torn country's future that were boycotted by the rebels. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed) (The Associated Press)

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    Yemeni girls play with a vehicle damaged by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, May 18, 2015. Saudi-led airstrikes targeting Yemen's Shiite rebels resumed early on Monday in the southern port city of Aden after a five-day truce expired amid talks on the war-torn country's future that were boycotted by the rebels. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed) (The Associated Press)

BEIRUT – An Iranian official says Saudi Arabia should not be the one hosting talks on Yemen's conflict since the kingdom is involved in the crisis with Saudi-led airstrikes targeting the country's Shiite rebels.

Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, says a dialogue on Yemen should be mediated by an international organization and held in a "neutral country."

Velayati spoke Monday during a visit to Beirut.

On Sunday, hundreds of Yemeni politicians and tribal leaders gathered in Saudi Arabia for three days of talks on Yemen's future.

However, the Iran-backed rebels known as Houthis did not attend the conference. Their absence meant the dialogue was unlikely to end the violence.

Velayati, a former foreign minister, described the Saudi-led airstrikes against Houthis in Yemen as "savage."