Iran offers to help end Saudi-Houthi conflict

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that Tehran supports a "political process" to resolve the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthi rebels.

Speaking at the 52nd session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's Council of Foreign Ministers in Baghdad, Araghchi said Iran was ready to help end the conflict involving the Houthis, one of Tehran's main regional allies.

Araghchi had offered last week to help facilitate dialogue between the two sides during a phone call with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

He said a military solution was not an option for ending Yemen's years-long civil war.

Araghchi arrived in Baghdad early Saturday and held meetings on the sidelines of the OIC gathering with his Turkish and Egyptian counterparts, Hakan Fidan and Badr Abdelatty.

Foreign ministers from OIC member states attended the first day of the two-day meeting, which is being held in the Iraqi capital for the first time in 45 years.

Meanwhile, Saudi strikes that began overnight have killed at least 12 people in Yemen, three of them children, Houthi media reported on Saturday.

Saudi warplanes targeted "civilian homes" in Taiz governorate on Saturday, killing nine people and wounding 16, the Iran-backed group's news agency said, adding that people were still trapped under the rubble.

The agency had earlier reported overnight strikes in Dhamar province that killed three children and wounded 17 other people.

It said the strikes were carried out "using cluster bombs, which are banned internationally".

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis has launched daily raids in Yemen backing the internationally recognised government in the country's long-running civil war.

The conflict, dormant for years, erupted again in July and intensified after the Iran-backed group seized the Red Sea coast last month.

The Houthis have repeatedly attacked Saudi targets in recent weeks, including vessels in the Red Sea, oil facilities and Riyadh's international airport, where 13 people were killed in a single attack last week.

According to the Houthis, the toll from Saudi strikes between September 3 and October 15 is 115 dead and 305 wounded.