GENEVA/ADEN (Reuters) – The United Nations’ Yemen mediator arrived in Yemen’s capital on Monday as part of a bid to subdue heightened tensions in his first visit in almost two years, a spokesperson said.
The trip comes amid intensified Israeli and U.S. strikes on Houthi strongholds in the past two weeks in response to the Iran-backed militants launching missiles and drones towards Israel. The strikes disrupted operations at Sanaa International Airport, Hodeidah and Saleef ports, which are the main aid entries.
The Iran-aligned Houthis have controlled most parts of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, since seizing power during 2014 and early 2015. They are playing an escalating role in the Middle East in a campaign aimed at supporting Palestinians in the Gaza war.
The U.N. mediator Hans Grundberg aims to “improve the environment for resolution of the conflict (and) prepare the ground for concrete actions for advancing the peace process” in a series of national and regional meetings in the coming days, his spokesperson Ismini Palla told Reuters.
Grundberg, a Swedish diplomat, will also push for the release of U.N. staff and others currently being held there, Palla said.
He last visited Sanaa in May 2023. In December, he warned the U.N. Security Council that strikes by Houthis on the Red Sea and Israel as well as retaliatory strikes by Israel, the United States and Britain in 2024 had “shrunk the space for my mediation efforts”.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus travelled to Yemen over Christmas in an effort to help negotiate the release of 16 U.N. staff as well as employees of diplomatic missions and NGO workers. He survived an Israeli airstrike on Sanaa International Airport on Dec. 26 ahead of his departure.
(Reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva and Mohammed Ghobari in Aden; Editing by Ros Russell)
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