The new UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh met on Thursday with officials from the General People's Congress as he kicked off his mission in the country.
The meeting discussed arrangements for talks by Yemeni factions scheduled for May 17 in the Saudi capital Riyadh as well as the humanitarian situation, well-informed sources said.
Early this month, President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi called for the talks under the sponsorship of the GCC states.
All factions except the Houthi militant group have voiced their readiness to participate in the talks.
During his first visit, Cheikh will meet officials from all factions, he told the meeting today, while stressing that only dialog can bring peace, stability and prosperity to Yemen, the sources said.
The visit coincided with a five-day pause of fighting aimed at delivering humanitarian aid to more than half of the country's population who have been affected by recent violence.
The ceasefire has been widely applauded amid concerns over the deteriorating humanitarian situation.
Lately, Russia called for a longer ceasefire and urged strict adherence to it in order to put an end to the suffering of the Yemeni people.
Separately, foreign minister Riyadh Yaseen said Yemen is considering cutting its relations with Iran because of Iranian attempts to destabilize the country.
Yemen accuses Iran of backing the Houthi militants who ousted the transition government in September.
Yaseen said the Yemeni ambassador to Iran has been already withdrawn while pointing to Iranian attempts to break a blockade on Yemeni ports in an effort to prevent weapons from reaching the Houthi militants.
The blockade was imposed by Saudi-led Arab countries which launched a military operation on the Hputhis on March 26.
Iran has tried to break it through sending aid on planes without permission but fighter jets from the Arab alliance prevented the planes from landing in Yemen.
Today, Iran agreed to send aid through coordination with the UN, Iranian media said, adding the first aid vessels has been already dispatched and approved by the UN.