Yemeni foreign minister rejects Iranian offer to mediate in Yemen's war

YEMEN — Yemeni Foreign Minister Afrah Al-Zouba has rejected Iranian proposals to mediate in Yemen's conflict, saying Iran is a party to the war, according to a report by Arab News published on 18 October 2026.

Arab News said Al-Zouba made the remarks in a long post on the platform X. This report relies solely on that account, and the claims below are hers as relayed by Arab News.

"Those who arm one side in a war cannot be mediators in that same war," she wrote, according to Arab News. She said the Iranian government had "made itself a party to the war against the Yemeni people" by giving the Houthis funding, training, weapons, missiles and drones.

Call for Iran to withdraw support

Al-Zouba said Tehran should not offer mediation. Instead, she said, it should "withdraw its influence and its weapons from Yemen" and respect national sovereignty and international law, according to Arab News.

She accused Iran of prolonging the war by backing the Houthis. She said Iran's talk of mediation coincides with an escalation on the ground. In her account, the Houthis are intensifying attacks on presidential and government headquarters in Aden, which she called the interim capital. She also said they are besieging Taiz, striking civilian targets, attacking Saudi Arabia and threatening international shipping.

Al-Zouba said the offer contradicts the Houthis' repeated refusal of political initiatives and of regional and international efforts, including those meant to restore a political process. She said the group has "exploited periods of de-escalation to regroup and bolster its military arsenal." She also said Iran has turned Yemen into a "bargaining chip" in its regional conflicts.

Rejection of Houthi claim to represent Yemen

According to Arab News, the minister rejected what she described as Iranian attempts to present the Houthis as representatives of the Yemeni state. She also rejected attempts to portray the war as a dispute between Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

She said Tehran's dealings with the group do not give it legitimacy or a right to speak for Yemen. Nor, she said, do they give Iran authority over Yemeni national decision-making. Arab News reported that she said the group bears responsibility for its own decisions, but that this does not relieve Iran of responsibility for the support it provides.

Al-Zouba reaffirmed Yemen's solidarity with Saudi Arabia and backed the kingdom's right to defend its security and its citizens and residents. She said the security of the two countries is "interlinked." She described Saudi Arabia as a pillar of support for the Yemeni state and people through economic, humanitarian and development aid.

She also said attacks and threats against Gulf Cooperation Council states and Jordan are "not isolated incidents." She described them as part of an Iranian approach of interfering in other countries and arming and funding militias.

Sovereignty claims

Responding to Iranian calls to respect state sovereignty, Al-Zouba listed what she called violations of Yemeni sovereignty, according to Arab News. They included receiving a Houthi representative in Tehran and handing him a Yemeni diplomatic headquarters. They also included naming an Iranian representative to the group in Sanaa and running flights to Sanaa airport without the approval of the internationally recognised government.

What is not confirmed

Arab News did not report any response from Iran or the Houthis to her statements. The report does not describe the content of the Iranian mediation proposals or when they were made. The allegations about Iranian weapons, funding and training are Al-Zouba's and are not independently verified in the source. Her post was quoted in part, and the report's text ends before she finishes her remarks on sovereignty.