Smoke billows from a military arms depot after it was hit by a Saudi-led air strike on the Nuqom Mountain overlooking Yemen’s capital Sanaa, yesterday.

Agencies
Geneva

UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson said yesterday he hoped peace talks to end the war in Yemen could start by the end of October despite “deep mistrust” between Saudi Arabia and Iran who back opposing sides.
Eliasson, speaking after meetings in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, called for both Houthi fighters and the exiled Yemen government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to attend the UN-backed talks without pre-conditions.
Al Qaeda has gained territory and influence in Yemen, which also made a “strong logic” for resuming talks on a ceasefire and a political process, mediated by UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, he said.
“I found both in Saudi and the UAE a desire, a will to move to the political phase as soon as possible. I asked both sides to make that case very strongly to the Hadi government,” Eliasson said, referring to the Yemeni government.
But both Gulf states “felt the Houthis were encouraged by the Iranians to go on with their political ambitions,” he said.
Saudi Arabia led an Arab military intervention against the Houthis beginning on March 26 to restore the Yemeni government ousted by the group and fend off what it sees as the creeping influence of the Shia group’s main ally, Iran.
“I told you also about the deep mistrust that exists between key actors, not least Saudi and UAE on one side and Iran on the other. I need to balance possible optimism with this very serious problem that we have such a lack of trust among the different actors,” Eliasson said.
“We have been disappointed before. Geneva talks started but not much came out of it,” he said, referring to a round in June.
Yemen’s Houthi forces fired a ballistic missile yesterday in retaliation for attacks by a Saudi-led coalition, a source in the Iranian-allied group said, and a Houthi-linked television station said a Scud missile had been fired at a Saudi air base.
Residents in Yemen’s capital reported hearing a roar as what they said was a Scud was launched from near the city.
Eliasson, noting that a UN verification mechanism to inspect commercial ships heading to Yemen was in place, said the UN was in talks on ending the Saudi-led blockade of Yemen, where the humanitarian situation is “critical.”
“We also are in discussion about opening other ports for access to Yemen. That process will go on even without the talks starting, but I’m sure they will be part of the talks also.”
Air strikes and ground fighting have killed at least 5,400 Yemenis, according to the UN, but near daily air attacks by the Arab alliance on Yemeni missile depots appear not to have exhausted their supply.
Scuds have been launched at Saudi Arabia from Yemen several times during the nearly seven-month-old war, but have been shot down at least twice by Patriot missiles supplied by the US.
Saudi-led war planes appeared to respond to the attack with several air strikes aimed and missile bases around the capital later yesterday, residents said.