Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—Talks between the UN envoy and the Houthis in Oman are showing “positive signs” towards finding a political solution to the conflict that has gripped Yemen for almost a year, a minister from Yemen’s exiled government has said.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Yemen’s Human Rights Minister Ezz Al-Din Al-Asbahi said his government had seen positive signs in the fresh round of talks that Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed and the Houthis launched in Muscat on Sunday and that it is keen to ensure the success of the UN envoy’s peace efforts.

“[The Yemeni government] supports [the UN envoy’s] steps to find a practical solution that leads to the implementation of the UN resolution 2216,” Asbahi said.

Yemen’s internationally recognized government handed Ould Cheikh Ahmed a list of proposals it views as integral to any political solution on Yemen. They include the implementation of the UN resolution 2216 that requires that Houthis withdraw from areas under their control in Yemen and put down their weapons.

Yemen has been in turmoil since last September when the Iran-allied Houthis took over the capital Sana’a, prompting the internationally recognized President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi to resign and then flee to Saudi Arabia.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed is also seeking to persuade the rebels to agree to a humanitarian truce to allow aid to reach civilians.

“Ould Cheikh Ahmed is holding extensive talks with all parties to the conflict and has received the government and the Houthis’ proposals to end the fighting,” the office of the UN Secretary-General has said.

Yemen’s Permanent Representative to the UN Khaled Alyemany said the Houthis have met the government proposals “with hesitance”.

Alyemany slammed the international community’s silence over the Houthis’ failure to implement UN resolutions on Yemen, arguing that the UN chief Ban Ki-moon should make greater efforts to “push the concerned countries to pressure the Houthis to implement resolution 2216.”

Alyemany warned against efforts to “kill off resolution 2216” under the pretext of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Yemen.

Militarily, Saudi Arabia, who has been bombarding the Houthis upon the request of President Hadi since late March, said on Wednesday it “intercepted and destroyed” a Scud missile fired by the rebels from across the border.

The Saudi military intercepted the missile in the Jizan region and destroyed the missile’s launch pad inside Yemen, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said, quoting a military official.