Yemen President Ali Abdallah Saleh yesterday told Al-Jazeera TV that unofficial Iranian elements and Iraqi Shi'ite leader Moqtada Al-Sadr were in direct contact with the Houthi rebels in Yemen, and that they had even secretly offered to mediate between the Houthis and the Yemen government.
Iran denied the allegations, but Al-Sadr's supporters acknowledged that they had made such mediation attempts in an effort to resolve the crisis by diplomatic means.
Source: Al-Hayat, London, September 10, 2009
