Ahmadinejad offers ideas to Saudi Crown Prince to end Yemen war

NEW YORK: Iran’s former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has invited Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman for talks to end the devastating war in Yemen, The New York Times reported on Monday.

In an amiable letter to Prince Salman, Ahmadinejad, who served as Iran’s president from 2005 to 2013, portrayed the Saudi leader as a man of peace, asserting that he would take steps to bring peace to the region and thus secure his legacy and please Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), according the Times, which said it received a copy of the letter from the former Iranian president's office.

“I know that your excellency is not happy about the current situation of innocent people dying and getting injured every day and infrastructure being damaged,” the letter was quoted Ahmadinejad as saying. “You are upset that regional resources belonging to the people are used for destruction instead of developing peace and prosperity. For these reasons you will welcome a just peace.” It was signed, “Your brother Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.”

Ahmadinejad took the initiative to reach out to Prince Salman despite the history of tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, diplomats here noted. The former Iranian president also wrote to the leader of Houthis, Abdul-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi, and to the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres. The three letters represent a proposal by Ahmadinejad to mediate an end to Yemen’s war by creating a committee of international dignitaries.

UN chief's spokesman Stephane Dujarric, was cited as saying in the Times that he had no knowledge of the letter. A spokesman for Iran’s mission to the United Nations, Alireza Miryusefi, sought to play down Ahmadinejad’s attempts at independent diplomacy, according to the Times.