Deputy Chief of the Sanaa negotiating delegation and Deputy Prime Minister of the Sanaa for Defense and Security Affairs Jalal Al-Ruwaishan (Archive)

Deputy Chief of the Sanaa negotiating delegation and Deputy Prime Minister of the Sanaa Government for Defense and Security Affairs Jalal Al-Ruwaishan expressed the Yemeni people's gratitude for the mediation efforts undertaken by the Sultanate of Oman, its positive role in bridging differences, and its efforts to achieve peace.

Speaking with Yemen's Al Masirah TV channel, Al-Ruwaishan affirmed that Saudi Arabia is not a mediator but a major party in the conflict.

"It is odd that the Saudi delegation is assuming the role of mediator," he tersely stated.

He reiterated that Sanaa put forward "its clear conditions" for peace that are "summarized in just and legitimate rights."

"The leader of the Ansar Allah movement, Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi set clear objectives -- which do not require a lot of dialogue -- for achieving a just peace for the Yemeni people," he said.

The top Yemeni official clarified that "the negotiation to lift the blockade and end the aggression and occupation is between Sanaa and the countries of aggression, and the political solution that follows is between the Yemenis.

Furthermore, he recalled that International law prohibits interference in the internal affairs of States, stressing that the aggression should realize that peace cannot be achieved without ending the war on Yemen and lifting the blockade imposed against it.

This comes shortly after Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Saeed Al Jaber, said Monday during a visit to Sanaa that his trip was aimed at consolidating the armistice, establishing a ceasefire, and backing the prisoner swap deal, as well as discussing the means of dialogue between the various Yemeni political components to reach a comprehensive and sustainable political solution in Yemen.

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a senior member of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council and an important figure of the National Salvation Government of Yemen, called for planning a huge welcoming ceremony marking the prisoner swap, which will involve hundreds of prisoners from the war.

Al-Houthi emphasized the value of raising community awareness and maintaining unity among Yemenis in order to foil all plots.

Al-Houthi further affirmed that the dialogue with Saudi Arabia is based on the fact that it is the country leading the aggression after the US and that the results of the dialogue will be publicized to the Yemeni people through official means.

Yemen has been under an international war waged mainly by the United States and Saudi Arabia and backed by the United Arab Emirates, though there have been peace talks signaling that the war is at an end.