Washington ‘cautiously optimistic’ about renewal of Yemen truce, US envoy says

Tim Lenderking says US would like more ‘constructive engagement’ from Iran in Yemen

Tim Lenderking, the US special envoy for Yemen, is “cautiously optimistic” a two-month truce in the nation will be extended and hopes it will lead to a permanent settlement.

Mr Lenderking told The National that extensive intra-Yemen and regional talks were under way to renew the truce that expires on June 2.

“We are cautiously optimistic, but there's a lot of hard work that has to be done over the course of the next two weeks,” he said.

The US envoy described the truce as a possible game-changer in the more than seven-year war.

“There really is a big drop in fighting. No cross-border attacks … the truce provides the best chance that Yemen has had since this conflict began to really turn a corner to end the violence, to move into a political process that allows Yemenis to decide the future of their own country,” he said.

Washington is hoping to capitalise on this by achieving another temporary truce that will ultimately lead to a permanent ceasefire.

“We are we definitely talking about [ending the war] and thinking about it,” Mr Lenderking said.

“The UN is working on a framework that is based on the consultations that they've been hosting over the last two months in Amman.”

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  A Yemenia Airways plane is greeted with a water cannon salute at Sanaa International Airport in Yemen after the first commercial flight in six years prepares to leave the capital Sanaa. Reuters

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  The Yemenia Airways plane is prepared for departure for its historic flight at Sanaa International Airport in Yemen. Reuters

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  Staff pass the control tower of Sanaa International Airport after it was reopened for commercial flights. EPA

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  Passengers arrive to board the Yemenia Airways plane on Monday. Flights out of the Houthis-held Sanaa International Airport were resumed for the first time since 2016 as part of a UN-brokered truce. EPA

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  Yemeni soldiers patrol at Sanaa International Airport after it was reopened for commercial flights. EPA

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  A boy stands with relatives in a line at the departures lounge to board the flight at Sanaa International Airport. Reuters

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  A passenger holds his passport as he arrives to board the Yemenia Airways plane. EPA

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  Passengers wait at passport control at Sanaa International Airport. EPA

But firm commitments from the warring parties, including the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, have to be achieved, he said.

These include an improvement in the humanitarian situation, commercial access to Yemen, a resumption of fuel shipments, the lifting the Houthis’ siege of the south-western city of Taez and resuming flights from the country's airports.

Last week, the first commercial flight in nearly six years took off from the airport in Yemen’s capital Sanaa and landed in Jordan. Egypt is also considering a resumption of flights to Sanaa.

“The flights [from Sanaa] to Cairo, that’s going to be a big development if that happens in the next couple of days,” Mr Lenderking said.

He said the truce was in place because of a sense of war fatigue within Yemen, as well as efforts by regional powers and UN envoy Hans Grundberg.

“This wouldn't happen without countries like Saudi Arabia and Oman supporting this effort and that’s very significant,” he said.

He also discussed Iran's role in welcoming the April 2 ceasefire.

“We'd like to see more of this constructive engagement from Iran because we don't see that inside Yemen,” he said.

Asked if Iran was still working towards keeping the peace in Yemen despite stalled nuclear talks in Vienna, Mr Lenderking said: “That seems to be the case. I don't want to take anything for granted, though, but we have seen the Yemen truce and de-escalation moving forward while the talks in Vienna have been stalled.”

He said he was in close talks with Rob Malley, the US special envoy to Iran, to “compare notes”.

Last week, Yemen marked the 32nd anniversary of its unification, though the war has led many to view the union as a failure.

When asked about fears that the country may split, Mr Lenderking said the US supported Yemen’s “territorial integrity, its unity, but these are issues that the Yemeni people are going to have to agree on”.

“It's Yemenis and not outsiders that are going to determine the future for Yemen," he said.

Mr Lenderking acknowledged that arms are still being smuggled into Yemen despite the truce and said the conflict was fuelling the rise of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and ISIS in Yemen.

He said Washington was closely co-ordinating with Saudi Arabia and the UAE on counter-terrorism efforts.

“It's a big problem and we don't have the resources that we really need to put into this particular fight [against smuggling and counter-terrorism],” he said.

Aid groups push to feed Yemen's hungry — in pictures

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  The father of malnourished boy Jiad Muhammad Jalal, 1, holds him at a camp for internally displaced people in Hajjah, Yemen. All photos: Reuters

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  A volunteer gives a meal to a woman at a charity kitchen in Sanaa.

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  About 17.4 million people need food aid as funding dries up, the UN has said.

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  Boys stand in line as they wait to receive meals from a charity kitchen in Sanaa.

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  Children have been particularly affected by the conflict in Yemen, UN figures show, with 2.2 million youngsters acutely malnourished.

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  Boys leave after receiving meals from a charity kitchen in Sanaa.

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  A woman cooks a meal at a camp for displaced people in Al Ghaidha.

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  A girl picks food prepared by her mother at a camp for displaced people in Al Ghaidha.

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  UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said Yemen and other vulnerable nations are being hit hard by the economic fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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  Internally displaced people collect food aid distributed by a charity in Taez.