US ices Iran out of Yemen talks
Iranian efforts to send a high-level official to Sweden talks with the Houthis have been rebuffed.
![YEMEN-SECURITY/ Swedish Foreign minister Margot Wallstrom, U.N. envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths and delegates attend the opening press conference on U.N.-sponsored peace talks for Yemen at Johannesberg castle, in Rimbo, Sweden December 6, 2018. Stina Stjernkvist /TT News Agency/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. SWEDEN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN SWEDEN. - RC1E49050030](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2018/12/RTS294TF.jpg/RTS294TF.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=VKDlqsy0)
Iran sought to send a high-level official to Yemen peace talks but was rebuffed by the Donald Trump administration, Al-Monitor has learned.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry recently informed Sweden, which is hosting this week's UN-sponsored talks, of its desire to send a senior adviser to Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to the shuttle diplomacy between the Houthi rebels and the internationally recognized government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in Stockholm. But the request was denied, according to several Iranian sources, because of US pressure.