Yemen war ending? Peace talks next week

The Trump administration is calling for an urgent halt to the Saudi-Iran proxy war in Yemen and the start of negotiations in November toward a political settlement to end the years long conflict that has killed over 10,000 people and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.

The renewed push for a political solution in Yemen comes amid growing criticism of U.S. military support for Saudi Arabia's Yemen air campaign in the aftermath of the killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Turkey.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged a ceasefire, specifically citing missile and drone strikes into Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. The Houthis are supported by Iran.

As well, the airstrikes by the Arab coalition, backed by the U.S., "must cease in all populated areas in Yemen," said Pompeo.

Pompeo's written statement Tuesday evening came shortly after Defence Secretary Jim Mattis made similar statements in an appearance at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C.

Mattis was more specific than Pompeo in his call for urgent movement toward a political solution to the fighting. He said a ceasefire should take effect within 30 days.

"We've got to move toward a peace effort here. And we can't say we're going to do it sometime in the future. We need to be doing this in the next 30 days," Mattis said.

Mattis called for demilitarization of Yemen's border with Saudi Arabia "so that the Saudis and the Emirates do not have to worry about missiles coming into their homes and cities and airports." He also said measures should be taken to "ensure that all Iranian-supplied missiles to the Houthis" are put under "international watch."

The State Department’s deputy spokesman, Robert Palladino, on Wednesday urged the Iran-aligned Houthi group to immediately cease missile and drone strikes in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and told the Saudi-led coalition to halt air strikes in populated areas in Yemen.

“We have come to the assessment that the climate is right at this time to move forward,” Palladino told reporters.