TEHRAN - Hassan Irlou, Iran’s newly appointed ambassador to Yemen, has said Tehran-Sanaa relations are based on respect and equality.

“They [enemies] do not like that relations between Iran and Yemen are based on respect and equality,” the ambassador said in an interview with the Beirut-based al-Mayadeen news channel.

Irlou has recently been appointed as Iran’s ambassador to Yemen. On Wednesday, he submitted his credentials to Mahdi al-Mashat, the president of the Supreme Political Council of Yemen.

The appointment of Irlou sparked a wave of speculation among some regional players who have seen the appointment of the new ambassador as a step toward strengthening ties between Tehran and Sanaa.

“The [Iranian] ambassador’s return [to Yemen] posed a strong challenge to them that they could not justify, but rather failed to do so,” the ambassador said of these players without naming them.

He added, “They are trying, through their media, to strip the ambassador of his diplomatic status. They use disinformation and lies, and they say that Sanaa is Iran's tool.”

Irlou said they have spent their money to promote extremist projects. The ambassador also pointed to the United States presidential election and its impact on the war in Yemen.

According to the ambassador, if Donald Trump loses the election, the enemies will become “orphan”.

“If Trump is defeated, they will become orphans, especially since the new ruler spoke of stopping the war in Yemen,” pointed out Irlou, who recently said that he will cooperate with the Yemeni government to establish peace and uproot terrorism last week.

“We will cooperate with the Yemeni government to establish security and peace and uproot terrorism,” Irlou wrote on his Twitter page on Sunday.

Foreign Minister Mohamad Javad Zarif has elaborated on the appointment of Irlou, saying Iran has already had an embassy in the Yemeni capital, and Iran has appointed a new ambassador to Yemen because Iran’s former ambassador there had become sick.

“Relations between Iran and Yemen are good and strategic. The Iranian embassy was located in Sanaa, although it was not possible to travel for a while, but we had an ambassador in Sanaa,” the chief Iranian diplomat said on Tuesday.

Iranian officials described Irlou’s appointment as opening new chapter in Tehran-Sanaa relations.

“Yemen is not a playground for aggressors. We consider the future of Yemen to all Yemenis. The beginning of the mission of Mr. Hassan Irlou, a diplomat of good manners, expert and professional, as our country’s new ambassador in Sanaa, will be a new chapter in the constructive relations between Iran and Yemen,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the special aide to the speaker of the Iranian Parliament on international affairs, said in a tweet, shortly after the appointment of Irlou.

PA/PA