UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg meets with Yemeni officials as part of consultations in Amman, Jordan, May 19, 2022. (Credit: Alaa Malhas/Osesgy)
As the ‘axis of resistance’ suffers another blow with the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Yemen, where Iranian-backed Houthi rebels control much of the territory, emerges as a potential fallback for Iranian influence in the region. However, a lasting peace agreement remains elusive after a civil war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, despite the cease-fire brokered in April 2022, which is still largely holding. L'Orient-Le Jour spoke with Hans Grundberg, the U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen.You have been involved in Yemen for years, contributing to the Stockholm Agreement, before becoming the EU Ambassador to Yemen and then the U.N. Special Envoy. How did you become interested in the region and Yemen in particular?I started working on the Middle East when I joined the Swedish Foreign Affairs Ministry from Brussels, around 2006-2007....
As the ‘axis of resistance’ suffers another blow with the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Yemen, where Iranian-backed Houthi rebels control much of the territory, emerges as a potential fallback for Iranian influence in the region. However, a lasting peace agreement remains elusive after a civil war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, despite the cease-fire brokered in April 2022, which is still largely holding. L'Orient-Le Jour spoke with Hans Grundberg, the U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen.You have been involved in Yemen for years, contributing to the Stockholm Agreement, before becoming the EU Ambassador to Yemen and then the U.N. Special Envoy. How did you become interested in the region and Yemen in particular?I started working on the Middle East when I joined the Swedish Foreign Affairs Ministry from Brussels, around...