Washington: Iran on Monday pushed its call for peace talks to end the fighting in Yemen, and offered assurances that a nuclear deal would pave the way for greater cooperation with its neighbors.
"With courageous leadership and the audacity to make the region decisions, we can and should put this manufactured crisis to rest and move on to much more important work," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote, referring to global suspicions about his country's nuclear program.
His New York Times op-ed piece entitled "A message from Iran" came ahead of new political director talks in Vienna this week as global powers chase a full deal on Iran's nuclear program by a June 30 deadline.
"Iran has been clear: the purview of our constructive engagement extends far beyond nuclear negotiations," Zarif wrote.
"Our rationale is that the nuclear issue has been a symptom, not a cause, of the mistrust and conflict," he argued, adding it was time for "Iran and other stakeholders to begin to address the causes of tension in the wider Persian Gulf region."
"It is not a question of governments rising and falling: the social, cultural and religious fabrics of entire countries are being torn to shreds."
Iran last week presented a four-point peace plan for Yemen to UN chief Ban Ki-moon, demanding international action to end the "senseless" Saudi-led air campaign against Huthi Shiite rebels backed by Tehran.
But Yemeni Foreign Minister Riyadh Yassin on Monday rejected Iran's offer to mediate in the crisis in his war-torn country.
"Iran has become a major part of the Yemeni crisis and those who are a party to the crisis cannot become mediators," he said.
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