Aden (South24 Center)

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said Tuesday that his office plans to convene a trilateral military meeting bringing together the Yemeni government, the Houthis, and the Saudi-led coalition’s Joint Forces Command, in a bid to reduce tensions and improve communication channels.

Briefing the UN Security Council on June 16, Grundberg said his office had recently held two separate meetings under the Military Coordination Committee framework: one between military representatives of the Joint Forces Command and the Houthis, and another between the Joint Forces Command and the Yemeni government.

The meetings allowed the parties to exchange views on security priorities and discuss practical steps to de-escalate, he said. Grundberg added that, based on a commitment from all sides, his office intends to invite the delegations to a trilateral session in the coming period.

The announcement came as Grundberg welcomed a deal announced by the United States and Iran, saying nearly three years of regional shocks had complicated prospects for Yemen’s peace process, deepened mistrust between the parties, and delayed willingness to compromise.

“I hope that this deal marks a turning point for the region,” he said, adding that he would work with the parties to encourage them to seize the moment to make progress on Yemen.

Grundberg said the military fallout from recent regional tensions had so far remained relatively limited in Yemen. Despite threats, no renewed attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea had been recorded, and the relative calm inside Yemen since the 2022 truce had continued to hold.

But he warned that Yemen’s conflict remained unresolved, saying entrenched front lines were draining resources, deepening fragmentation, and accelerating the militarization of society.

He said Yemenis had told him that students and teachers were being driven to join armed groups simply as a means of economic survival.

On the economic front, Grundberg said regional tensions had increased pressure on Yemen’s import-dependent economy, raising the cost of food and fuel imports and adding to inflationary pressures.

He pointed to protests in Aden and other governorates in recent weeks over electricity shortages during the summer heat.

Grundberg said economic reforms prioritized by the Yemeni government could help improve living conditions, strengthen public revenues, and restore confidence in state institutions. He also said Saudi Arabia’s recent $150 million fuel grant was critical to easing power shortages in government-held areas.

The envoy welcomed what he described as continued efforts by the Yemeni government to improve security and ensure accountability for recent assassinations of public figures. He said security and economic stability were important to strengthen dialogue and consensus-building, including on the southern issue.

Grundberg also said the parties had agreed last month to release more than 1,600 conflict-related detainees after 14 weeks of UN-sponsored negotiations in Amman, calling it the largest release operation agreed upon in the history of the conflict.

He urged the parties to move quickly toward implementing the deal with support from the International Committee of the Red Cross, and thanked Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Oman for supporting the talks.

Despite contacts on military, security, detainee, and economic files, Grundberg said it had been several years since the Yemeni parties met face-to-face for political talks.

He stressed that Yemen’s underlying crisis could only be resolved through negotiations and an inclusive UN-led political process.

Grundberg also renewed calls for the release of 73 UN personnel arbitrarily detained by the Houthis, many since June 2024, along with staff from NGOs, civil society groups, and diplomatic missions.

He said the detentions violated international law, caused deep suffering to families, and restricted the UN’s ability to assist millions of Yemenis in need.

“As long as Yemen’s conflict remains unsettled, the risk of further destabilization persists,” Grundberg said, urging the parties to use the current window of regional de-escalation to revive the political process and end the war.