Iran-backed militias block Yemen's peace process

Yemen’s Information Minister Moammar Al Eryani on Monday said the Houthi rebel group was as a “stumbling block” to peace efforts, after a UN-brokered two-month truce was extended this month.

Although the warring sides have accused each other of truce violations, the UN said violence has decreased since the agreement took effect on April 1.

In an interview with state-owned Saba news, Mr Al Eryani accused the Iran-backed Houthis of “besieging civilians and looting revenue for their own benefit and not giving employees their wages”.

The UN said the Houthis have been hoarding aid and not distributing it to those in need. A report published in 2020 found the Houthis had blocked half of UN aid and taken a cut from of billions of dollars in assistance.

Despite this, Mr Al Eryani reiterated the Yemeni government‘s commitment to the UN-brokered truce, adding that it had stopped fighting in several places.

In accordance with the UN agreement, the Yemeni government helped oil tankers into the port of Hodeidah and restarted flights at Sanaa International Airport to and from Egypt and Jordan six years after the site was closed.

The April 1 truce said that the Houthis should “immediately” open roads in and around Taez, Yemen’s third largest city, which has been besieged since March 2016.

It is central to road traffic across Yemen in all directions.

The Arab coalition and the Yemeni government began fighting the Houthis after the group took over the capital, Sanaa, in 2015.