World Bulletin / News Desk

Algeria over the last two weeks has relayed a number of messages between Saudi Arabia and regional rival Iran in hopes of averting an all-out regional war in crisis-hit Yemen, an Algerian diplomat revealed Friday.

Messages between the two sides, he said, had contained both assurances and warnings, he told The Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity.

The source said one such message had contained assurances between the two countries that the Saudi navy would not fire on Iranian cargo ships traversing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Another message contained assurances by the two countries that their respective navies would not clash in the same body of water, the source said. 

"Algeria believes mechanisms must be put in place to prevent the conflict from evolving into a regional war before a peaceful settlement can be found," the source said.

For almost one month, Saudi Arabia has been leading an air campaign that has been striking positions in Yemen held by Houthi group.

Riyadh says the strikes are in response to appeals by embattled Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi for help against the Houthis, who overran capital Sanaa last September.

Late last month, Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra said his country had good relations with all Arab states and "cordial" relations with Iran.

"We are in dialogue with everybody," Lamamra asserted.

He added that better relations between Arab states and Iran would boost the former's negotiating leverage at the international level.