U.N. announces Yemen talks, Iran to allow ship inspection

UNITED NATIONS/DUBAI - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday announced talks between warring Yemeni parties in Geneva on May 28 to end over seven weeks of war, as Iran agreed for international inspections of an aid ship sailing to Yemen.

The moves are aimed at defusing the deepening crisis in the southern Arabian Peninsula, where Saudi-led forces killed at least 15 Houthis in the latest air strikes of a campaign to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and regional Shi'ite powerhouse Iran are in a tussle over influence in the Middle East, where sectarian tensions are fuelling civil strife in Syria and Iraq that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.

"The Secretary-General is pleased to announce the launch of inclusive consultations starting on 28 May in Geneva to restore momentum toward a Yemeni-led political transition process," the U.N. statement issued in New York said.

A U.N. Security Council source said Ban was expected to attend the opening session.

In New York, the U.N. Security Council met behind closed doors to discuss the Yemen crisis. It issued a statement urging "all Yemeni parties to attend these talks and engage without preconditions and in good faith," while also calling for the resumption of humanitarian pauses in the fighting.

The foreign minister of the exiled Yemeni government based in Saudi Arabia appeared surprised by the announcement and said the Houthis must first disarm and quit cities they seized since last September first.

"We didn't get an official invitation," Reyad Yassin Abdulla said by phone. "It's very short notice. If it happens, it shouldn't be on May 28," he added.

But Yemen's U.N. Ambassador Khaled Alyemany said all parties, including the Houthis, would attend.

"Of course President Hadi will be represented in Geneva," he told reporters in New York. "He might be sending Vice President and Prime Minister (Khaled) Bahah, he might be sending somebody else."

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