Iran, UK Discuss Situation In Yemen Amid Drone Attacks On Saudi Arabia - Foreign Ministry

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and his UK counterpart, Dominic Raab, held phone talks to discuss the crisis in Yemen amid recent drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities and the Iran nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday

TEHRAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th September, 2019) Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and his UK counterpart, Dominic Raab, held phone talks to discuss the crisis in Yemen amid recent drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities and the Iran nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

On Sunday, a drone attack on Saudi Aramco made the Saudi Arabian national oil company shut down its Abqaiq and Khurais facilities, thus cutting the net oil output more than in half. Although the responsibility was claimed by the military wing of Yemen's Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, the United States has put the blame on Iran. Tehran has refuted the accusation.

"The two sides have discussed the latest developments in the region, particularly in Yemen, and also the situation regarding the implementation of the nuclear agreement, consular issues and bilateral relations," the ministry said in a press release.

Saudi Arabia and the Houthis have been regularly exchanging attacks since 2015, when the Saudi-led coalition joined the military action in Yemen. The Yemeni armed conflict between government forces, led by President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi, and the Houthis has been ongoing since 2011.

The JCPOA was signed by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union in 2015. It stipulated that Tehran significantly limit its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related international sanctions. In May 2018, Washington announced unilaterally withdrawing from the deal and imposing sanctions on Iran, to which Tehran responded a year later by pledging to gradually abandon its own commitments under the deal.