Iran says Saudi Arabia, Houthis have not answered mediation offer

CAIRO, Oct 20 (Reuters) – Iran has not received a response from Saudi Arabia or Yemen’s Houthis to its offer to help broker talks to end the fighting between them, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a television interview aired on Tuesday.

Araqchioffered to help facilitate dialogue as the Iran-alignedHouthis intensified strikes on Saudi Arabia earlier this month.

In the interview withIraq’s Al Ekhbariya TV, Araqchialso responded to the possibility of Egypt joining Saudi Arabia in the war against the Houthis.

“Any foreign intervention would complicate matters,” he said, adding Cairo has previously told Tehran that it would “not directly” interfere inthe Yemeni conflict.

Egypt has said it is ready to provide Saudi Arabia with the support it needs to defend its security, potentially raising the stakes ​in the Middle East.

A vote in the Egyptian parliament on a possible move against the Houthi fightersby the country’s military, one of the Arab world’s largest, was delayed until October 26.

(Reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din and Yasmine Ghania; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)