An Iranian official says Saudi Arabia should not be the one hosting talks on Yemen's conflict since the kingdom is involved in the crisis with Saudi-led airstrikes targeting the country's Shiite rebels.
Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, says a dialogue on Yemen should be mediated by an international organization and held in a "neutral country."
Velayati spoke Monday during a visit to Beirut.
On Sunday, hundreds of Yemeni politicians and tribal leaders gathered in Saudi Arabia for three days of talks on Yemen's future.
However, the Iran-backed rebels known as Houthis did not attend the conference. Their absence meant the dialogue was unlikely to end the violence.
Velayati, a former foreign minister, described the Saudi-led airstrikes against Houthis in Yemen as "savage.
