Mon Sep 30, 2019 09:08AM [Updated: Mon Sep 30, 2019 09:30AM ]
This image grab shows Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman appearing in an interview aired by CBS News on September 29, 2019. (Photo via CBS)
This image grab shows Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman appearing in an interview aired by CBS News on September 29, 2019. (Photo via CBS)
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MbS) has warned that a war with Iran would entail a “total collapse of the global economy,” calling for a “peaceful” settlement with Tehran in an apparent break with his trademark bellicose rhetoric.
Speaking during an interview with CBS News aired on Sunday, bin Salman said a “political and peaceful solution is much better than the military one” in tensions with Tehran.
“The region represents about 30% of the world's energy supplies, about 20% of global trade passages, about 4% of the world GDP. Imagine all of these three things stop,” the crown prince said.
Bin Salman urged the “world” to act on easing tensions, saying further escalations in the region could push oil prices to “unimaginably high numbers that we haven't seen in our lifetimes.”
Anwar Gargash, minister of state for foreign affairs of the United Arab Emirates, made similar remarks in an op-ed published by the Financial Times on Sunday.
Gargash, whose country is a close Saudi ally, called for talks with Iran in a bid to decrease tensions and "reduce the potential for miscalculations, missteps and retaliation on all sides".
Bin Salman’s comments, along with those of Gargash, represent a stark break with their provocative rhetoric in the past against Iran.
In May 2017, the Saudi crown prince accused Tehran of attempting to dominate the Muslim world and pledged to take the war “inside Iran.”
Saudi Arabia has since been a main backer of Washington’s campaign of “maximum pressure” against Tehran, pledging to ramp up its oil output to weaken Iran and strengthening ties with various anti-Iran groups.
Leaked audio shows Saudis colluded with the terrorist organization in the explosions.
Political solution in Yemen
In his interview with CBS News, the crown prince also signaled a withdrawal from his ambitions in Yemen, expressing interest in a “political solution” and welcoming a recent Ansarullah peace proposal.
When it launched its invasion of Yemen in 2015, Riyadh looked forward to a decisive victory which would return the pro-Saudi government of former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi to power and crush the Ansarullah movement. Four years on, none of those objectives have been achieved.
PressTV-UN: Saudi must seize opportunity as Yemen offers truce
PressTV-UN: Saudi must seize opportunity as Yemen offers truce
The UN welcomes a proposal by Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement to halt strikes on Saudi Arabia in return for an end to the Saudi-led coalition attacks on Yemen.
The Saudi crown prince’s apparent about-face comes two weeks after an attack launched by Yemeni forces inflicted substantial damage on the oil-rich kingdom’s Khurais and Abqaiq oil facilities.
The attacks effectively shut down about half of the kingdom’s crude and gas production.
Washington and Riyadh were quick to blame Iran for the devastating raid without any evidence, reasoning that they did not expect Yemen to be capable of such a high-profile raid.
On Sunday, Yemeni armed forces announced a major victory against Saudi troops and their mercenaries on the battlefield, claiming to have inflicted hundreds of casualties on enemy forces in a war which is increasingly turning into a quagmire for Riyadh.
Yemeni Armed Forces release the footage of “Victory from God Almighty” offensive in Saudi Arabia’s southern border region of Najran.
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Yemen's Houthis to free 350 captives, including three Saudis, in good will gesture
Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:28AM [Updated: Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:48AM ]
HomeMiddle EastYemen
The head of Yemen’s National Committee for Prisoners Affairs (NCPA), Abdulqader Al-Mortada, speaks in a news conference in Sana'a on September 30, 2019.
The head of Yemen’s National Committee for Prisoners Affairs (NCPA), Abdulqader Al-Mortada, speaks in a news conference in Sana'a on September 30, 2019.
The head of Yemen’s National Committee for Prisoners Affairs (NCPA) says the Houthi movement will release 350 prisoners, including three Saudi nationals, in its latest goodwill gesture.
Through the release, the Ansarullah movement of the Houthis and their allies in the Yemeni army seek to underline their commitment to peace negotiations held in Sweden last December.
The talks with Yemen's former Saudi-backed government resulted in an agreement which calls for a ceasefire in Hudaydah, a prisoner exchange and a statement of understanding on the southern city of Ta’izz.
"Our initiative proves our credibility in implementing the Sweden agreement and we call on the other party to take a comparable step," Yemen’s al-Masirah TV quoted NCPA head Abdulqader al-Mortada as saying Monday.
"The 350 prisoners ... are included in the prisoner lists of the Sweden deal," Mortada said in a press conference.
According to the report, the prisoners will be released under the supervision of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Mortada noted that the Ansarullah movement launched the initiative due to the big delay in the implementation of the prisoner swap deal.
He said the forces of the Saudi-led coalition are continuously hindering the deal through rejecting all the initiatives and proposals put forward by the UN special envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths who welcomed the Houthi move on Monday.
It is the latest goodwill gesture from the Ansarullah movement which called for a cessation of strikes earlier this month.
President of the Supreme Political Council in the Yemeni capital Mahdi al-Mashat on September 20 said the Ansarullah movement would stop targeting Saudi territories with drones and ballistic missiles, hoping Riyadh would reciprocate the gesture.
Mashat on Wednesday reiterated the Yemeni forces’ willingness to end hostilities with Saudi Arabia provided that the kingdom stops its years-long aggression against the impoverished country.
PressTV-Yemen repeats peace offer, warns Saudi against aggression
PressTV-Yemen repeats peace offer, warns Saudi against aggression
Head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council has once again reiterated Yemen's readiness to end attacks on Saudi Arabia if the kingdom agrees to end its aggression.
He regretted the fact that the Saudis "irresponsibly" continue to pound various parts of Yemen even after the Houthis put forth their peace offer.
Saudi Arabia and a number of its allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing a former regime back to power.
The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than 91,000 over the past four and a half years.
The war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.
