Tehran (South24)

Yesterday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met with a delegation from the Yemeni Houthi group led by Mohammed Abdul Salam, the official spokesman and head of the negotiating team.

Mohammed Abdul Salam stated on the X platform: "We discussed bilateral relations with the Iranian president. The issue of Palestine was discussed and we stressed the need to support Gaza to confront the Zionist aggression supported by the US and the West."

التقينا مساء أمس بالرئيس الإيراني مسعود بزشكيان مباركين له نيله ثقة شعبه بتوليه مقاليد الرئاسة الإيرانية وأبلغناه تحيات ومباركة الرئيس / مهدي المشاط،
وأبدينا له إعجابنا بما تتمتع به الجمهورية الإسلامية من سلاسة الانتقال السياسي للسلطة، وجرى خلال اللقاء بحث العلاقات الأخوية بين… pic.twitter.com/SJe17r1NK1

— محمد عبدالسلام (@abdusalamsalah) July 30, 2024

The new Iranian president was quoted on an Iranian website saying that "relations and cooperation between Iran and Yemen will continue to a greater extent than before." Pezeshkian praised the Houthi attacks on ships, saying that they put pressure on Israel.

The Houthi delegation is visiting Tehran to participate in the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s new president before Supreme Leader Khamenei, in the presence of Arab and Islamic diplomatic delegations.

Pezeshkian and Khamenei also met with the political leadership of the Palestinian Hamas movement, led by Ismail Haniyeh.

On May 19, former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian were killed in a helicopter crash in a mountainous area in northwestern Iran. Iran is the main backer of the Houthis in Yemen, sharing close ideological and doctrinal ties, and is believed to be supplying them with missiles and drones.