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Intel: How Yemen talks may deepen US-EU divide over Iran

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari attends a meeting during consultations on Syria at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland September 11, 2018. Salvatore Di Nolfi/Pool via REUTERS - RC165FC7BE80

The United States and the European Union are publicly at odds over whether Iran can play a constructive role in Yemen peace talks, further splitting the two allies regarding how best to deal with Tehran.

The Donald Trump administration had asked the UN to reject Iran’s request to have a senior Foreign Ministry official attend this week’s talks in Sweden between President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s government and the Houthi rebels, Al-Monitor first reported last week. On Monday, that same official — Hossein Jaberi Ansari — addressed the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, which subsequently praised Iran’s endorsement of the peace talks under the auspices of UN envoy Martin Griffiths.

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