Zarif: Iran not seeking confrontation with Saudi Arabia

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif 'hopes' the conflict in Yemen will not lead to a confrontation with Saudi Arabia.

Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in New York on Monday, Zarif said he hopes Tehran can work together with Riyadh to end the conflicts in both Yemen and Syria.

A Saudi-led coalition has been bombing Yemen since 2015, backing government forces against Houthi rebels allied to Iran. More than 10,000 civilians have been killed in the war.

"We certainly hope that if we don't agree with each other about the situation in Yemen or about the situation in Syria we can still work with each other in order to bring those situations to an end," Zarif said.

Iran and Saudi Arabia's rivalry has played out in proxy wars across the region.

They back opposite sides of the wars in Syria and Yemen, and support political rivals in Lebanon, Bahrain and Iraq.

We don't have to fight; we don't need to fight. We don't need to try to exclude each other from the scene in the Middle East

In May, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said there was no room for dialogue with Iran, due to its ambitions "to control the Islamic world."

Asked about any possibility for direct confrontation with Saudi Arabia, Zarif said: "We certainly hope not ... We don't have to fight; we don't need to fight. We don't need to try to exclude each other from the scene in the Middle East."

On June 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut off diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting and allying with Iran, allegations Qatar denies.

"Iran is a serious partner for all these countries in fighting a common enemy because we believe at the end of the day ... these extremist forces are as much a threat against us, but even more a threat against them," Zarif said.