On September 15, the Al-Akhbar daily newspaper carried the following report by Wahid Samadi: “…The Yemenis’ incursion into the Saudi depth, a year and a half following the launching of the war, has caused the Americans to worry even before the Saudis. This forced Washington to make a secret suggestion to Tehran to negotiate the fate of the war all the while ignoring Al-Riyadh. This method that the Americans are adopting is a reiteration of a British scenario adopted by London during the last year of the Iraqi-Iranian war when it transmitted a message to Tehran that read: “We are willing to negotiate.”

“At that time, the former President Saddam Hussein, launched his war against the young Islamic Republic in 1980 and promised his soldiers that they will be eating breakfast in Ahvaz (in southwestern Iran) and lunch in Tehran. He had received an unlimited support from global and regional forces mainly Saudi Arabia. However, the winds of the war did not match the direction of Saddam’s ships… The war that aimed at invading Tehran and toppling its government suddenly turned into a threat to Baghdad, which pushed Britain back then to suggest the launching of secret negotiations aimed at containing Saddam in return of stripping the then Revolution’s Guide, the late Ruhollah Khomeini, from his powers. The latter rejected the British suggestion…

“When it comes to the Yemeni war, a well-informed source in Tehran revealed that, a few weeks ago, more precisely before pushing the “plan of (U.S. Secretary of State, John) Kerry” forward, on August 12, Washington sent a message to the Iranian embassy in Muscat (via the Omani government) with the suggestion of conducting Iranian-Russian-American negotiations between experts at first in order to decide on the fate of the war. Saudi Arabia was not mentioned in this suggestion.

“The source added that Saudi Arabia learned about this suggestion and was upset. However, the Islamic Republic did not welcome the idea and has so far not responded to it. It seems that Iran will actually be repeating the same reaction that the Khomeini had… The source who asked for his identity to remain concealed stressed that one assistant of the Iranian foreign minister (Mohammad Jawad Zarif) welcomed the suggestion and expressed his willingness to engage in the suggested negotiations.

“He however has so far not been allowed to act because the concerned parties believe that the main objective behind this American suggestion actually consists of “halting the Yemeni march into the Saudi depth” i.e. containing rather than ending the war, which will be followed by Washington arranging its cards with Saudi Arabia. He [the source] further indicated that it is unlikely that Tehran will respond any time soon as long as the Yemeni progress in Saudi Arabia is ongoing and also in light of the elections’ mood in the USA and the fact that the Democrats are busy with the elections…”