Foreign minister in Yemen's internationally recognised government Khalid Al-Yamani has accused Iran of inciting the Houthi Group to breach the Stockholm Agreement and escalate militarily in western Hodeida province.
The government and the Houthis reached the agreement which called for a ceasefire in Hodeidah and a swap of prisoners during UN-sponsored peace consultations in Sweden in early December.
"Today, Iran is inciting the coup side to mobilise its forces in the Red Sea province of Hodeidah and backtrack on commitments under the agreement," Al-Yamani said in a statement to Sky News Arabia TV.
The outcomes of the Sweden consultations called for Houthi withdrawal from Hodeida, return of the legitimate authorities to run the city, he said, pointing that the government has been unable to implement the part of the agreement on facilitating access for humanitarian assistance and using Hodeidah as a lifeline for aid delivery to all Yemeni people.
He stressed the importance of placing further international pressure on the Houthis and Iran to keep the momentum of the peace process in order to guarantee implementation of the outcomes of the Sweden talks and eventually end the conflict.
Al-Yamani's remarks were given on the margins of a Middle East Conference in Warsaw.
"The Stockholm Agreement represented the first achievement of all peace efforts since the conflict began four years ago," he said.
He said the government does not see the failure to implement the agreement an option and that implementing the agreement by the Houthis will help build confidence between the two sides.
The government and the Houthis have been fighting since September 2014. The conflict broke out after the Houthis had ousted the government. It escalated after a Saudi-led coalition launched a military intervention to restore the government in March 2015, leading to the world's worst humanitarian crisis and the deaths of thousands.
In a recent report, UNOCHA said:" Nearly four years of conflict and severe economic decline are driving the country to the brink of famine and exacerbating needs in all sectors. An estimated 80 per cent of the population, 24 million people, requires some form of humanitarian or protection assistance, including 14.3 million who are in acute need. Severity of needs is deepening, with the number of people in acute need a staggering 27 per cent higher than last year".
Two-thirds of all districts in the country are already pre-famine, and one-third face a convergence of multiple acute vulnerabilities, UNOCHA said, adding that the escalation of the conflict since March 2015 has dramatically aggravated the protection crisis in which millions face risks to their safety and basic rights.
Last year, the coalition and the government launched a military operation to retake Hodeida and its ports from the Houthis.
Iran's danger lies in its attempt to build another Hezbollah in the Arabian Peninsula to threaten regional states and international navigation routes, Al-Yamani said.
Yemen has been racked by an armed conflict that broke out after the Iranian-backed Houthis had ousted the internationally recognized government late in 2014.
The conflict escalated after a Saudi-led coalition intervened militarily in the country in March 2015 to reinstate the government of President Hadi, pushing the country to the world's worst humanitarian crisis, according to the UN.
