Yemeni meditation between Iran and United Arab Emirates

Yemeni sources stated today that Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdul Qader Bajamal delivered to Iranian President Mohammad Khatami a written message from Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh that tackled Yemen's readiness to mediate between the United Arab Emirates and Iran regarding the disputed Gulf islands of Abu Moussa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb, occupied by Iran.

The sources said the Yemen initiative includes convening meetings between high-ranking officials from the United Arab Emirates and Yemen under the auspices of the Yemeni president in Sanaa. They said that among the proposals is an agreement on resorting to the International Court of Justice to determine the case on the condition that the two countries agree upon and and implement what the ICJ decides and stop the media campaigns between the two countries as well as the UAE's withdrawal of the subject of the islands from the agenda of the Arab foreign ministers.

The sources added that the visit of the Yemeni foreign minister to Iran aims at addressing the dispute over the three islands, the situation between Iraq and Iran and attempts to open a new page between the two countries soon.