Riyadh--Gulf foreign ministers met Thursday in the Saudi capital for talks on their military operation in Yemen, where Iran-backed Huthi rebels have defied air strikes and refused to give ground.
Ministers from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, huddled in Riyadh as warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition pressed on with attacks on rebel positions.
Qatar's Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah, chairing the meeting, said the air campaign in Yemen demonstrated the Gulf monarchies' committment to helping their impoverished neighbour.
"The Decisive Storm operation showed the GCC's historical responsibility towards Yemen," he said.
Gulf nations "will work with the international community to achieve legitimacy and unity" in Yemen, he said, before the ministers continued their meeting in a closed session.
The air strikes were launched in late March as the Shiite Huthi fighters and their allies advanced on the main southern city of Aden, where President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi fled after the rebels seized large parts of the country including the capital Sanaa.
Hadi escaped to Riyadh, which launched the campaign fearing an Iran-friendly regime taking control of its southern neighbour.
Iran has denied charges of arming the rebels, called for an end to the strikes and pushed for a negotiated settlement.
The conflict has heightened tensions in the region and Iran said Thursday that two of its destroyers sent to the Gulf of Aden had reached the entrance of Bab al-Mandab, a strategic strait between Yemen and Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.
Tehran said the destroyers would stay around the strait until late June, but stressed that its ships would not enter the territorial waters of other countries.
The coalition has imposed an air and sea blockade on Yemen.
Last week US officials said an American aircraft carrier and a cruiser left the waters off Yemen and headed back to the Gulf after an Iranian naval convoy also turned back from the area.
Washington suspected the convoy of carrying weapons destined for the Huthis.
Thursday's meeting was aimed at laying the groundwork for a GCC leaders' summit on Tuesday, which will also be attended by French President Francois Hollande.
AFP
