Iran, Yemen’s Houthi gov’t hold first joint economic cooperation meeting

14 August 2023; MEMO: Iran and the de-facto government of Yemen, the Houthi-led National Salvation Government (NSG), held their first joint economic cooperation commission on Saturday.

According to Iranian state media outlets, the meeting, aimed at enhancing bilateral trade and economic ties, was held at Iran’s Employment and Administrative Organisation and was attended by the body’s Vice President Meysam Latifi and Sanaa’s Ambassador to Iran, Ibrahim Al-Dailami. Iran and Syria are currently the only two countries that have diplomatic relations with the NSG. Dailami has been the NSG’s envoy to Tehran since being appointed in 2019.

Tasnim News Agency reported that during the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on bilateral ties and ways for bolstering mutual trade and economic cooperation. They also looked at ways to strengthen cooperation in the fields of management of human resources (HR), training of state-owned managers and the structure of administrative systems.

The Yemeni diplomat expressed his satisfaction with the relations forged between Tehran and Sanaa and hoped that the two sides will be able to further enhance their amicable relations.

In June, Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, held talks with chief negotiator of the NSG, Mohammed Abdul-Salam, in the Omani capital, Muscat. Earlier, in April, the head of the Sanaa-based government, President Mahdi Al-Mashat extended an invitation to his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, to meet Yemeni leaders and people. Raisi, in turn, called on Al-Mashat to visit Tehran.