BICOM

The US administration will oppose attempts in Washington to withdraw US support from the Saudi led coalition.

The US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Gulf Affairs, Timothy Lenderking, told a conference in the UAE: “There are pressures in our system … to either withdraw from the conflict or discontinue our support of the coalition, which we are strongly opposed to on the administration side”.

The Trump administration has come under pressure from Congress to end its support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen, which intensified after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Last month, a bipartisan group of Senators voted to advance a resolution to end US military support for the Saudi-led coalition, which includes arms sales and intelligence sharing.

Lenderking said containing Iran was a key reason to support the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen: “There is no place in a future Yemen for an Iranian-backed threat to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and vital international economic quarters. Early recovery efforts are underway but full scale reconstruction can only occur in a peaceful environment. For that reason we want to close the space for malign Iranian influence.”

Speaking of the peace talks launched last week, Lenderking described the discussions between the warring factions as a “vital first step”. On Sunday, delegates representing Yemen’s Houthi rebels and the internationally-recognised government met for direct talks in Sweden. These are the first face-to-face consultations since UN-backed talks opened on Thursday.

Askar Zouail, a representative from the internationally recognised Yemeni government, said the “atmosphere is positive” and added that “we are optimistic.” A representative of the Houthis rebels said the committee is discussing the details of a prisoner exchange and that they are ready for the exchange.

The UN’s special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, told reporters that the two sides were demonstrating a “positive spirit” and said: “The two parties are engaged in a serious and constructive way in discussing the details of confidence-building measures. We hope we will achieve progress during this round of consultations.”