Yemen’s warring parties have committed to a series of measures that will lead to a new ceasefire and a UN-led peace process to end the war, according to UN envoy Hans Grundberg.
The announcement came after Sweden’s Grundberg, who is the UN envoy in Yemen, held meetings with representatives of the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-backed Huthi rebels.
“The parties have taken a significant step. Their commitments are first and foremost an obligation to the Yemeni people,” says Grundberg in the statement.
He will now work with the parties to draw up a roadmap that includes commitments to a ceasefire, resuming oil exports and opening routes to the city of Taez besieged by the Hothi rebels.
“Thirty million Yemenis are watching and waiting for this new opportunity to deliver concrete results and progress towards lasting peace,” says Grundberg.
The war in Yemen has raged for nearly nine years and led to a humanitarian crisis that, according to the UN, is one of the worst in the world. Hundreds of thousands of people have died from fighting, disease or starvation.
A UN-brokered ceasefire came into force between the parties in April 2022 but expired last October.
The agreement comes amid a flurry of attacks by Huthi rebels on civilian shipping lanes in the Red Sea. The Iran-backed Huthi movement has threatened to attack any ship that could possibly benefit Israel, as revenge for the Gaza war.