Iran and European powers have made good progress in talks to end the conflict in Yemen as Tehran has shown itself willing to push for a ceasefire and ease the humanitarian crisis there, according to officials on both sides.

Iran denies Saudi accusations of giving financial and military support to Yemen’s Houthis in a civil war and blames the deepening crisis on Riyadh.

“Because of the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen, we have agreed to work with Britain, France and Germany to end the conflict in Yemen,” a senior Iranian official told Reuters.

“The aim is to secure a ceasefire to help those innocent civilians. We will use our influence to bring our allies to the negotiation table.”

Three European diplomats said the talks had progressed significantly and were going in the right direction.

A Saudi-led coalition backed by the West has carried out air strikes against the Houthi movement in a war since 2015 to restore the  Mansour Hadi  government.

More than 10,000 people have been killed and 3 million have been displaced internally and unleashed the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, the UN says.

 “The Iranians have given indications that they are now willing to offer their services to liaise with the Houthis to move forward,” said a European official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

 “The Iranians are now at least recognizing there is a channel. They obviously aren’t saying they control the Houthis and they never will, but they recognize they have a certain influence on them and ready to use those channels. That’s new.”

A second European official said the discussions with Iranians on Yemen were going “very well”.

‘Chicken and egg scenario’

“They (Iranians) are telling us they are ready to work on the ceasefire, but they say the Saudis aren’t ready. So it’s a bit of a chicken and egg scenario. We need this now to get into something concrete,” said the second official.

Neither Saudi, Yemeni nor Houthi officials responded to requests for comment, Reuters reported.

 “This is a humanitarian effort ... The issue has almost been solved. We are working on a framework,” said another Iranian official.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Iran and European powers will meet in mid-June in Brussels to further discuss the Yemen conflict.

Martin Griffiths, the UN Yemen mediator, said in April he wanted to present a plan for negotiations within two months to end the conflict, but warned that any new military offensives could “take peace off the table.”