Iran says Saudi Arabia should not be hosting Yemen talks since it's part of the conflict

Smoke rises from al-Qahira castle, an ancient fortress that was recently taken over by Shiite rebels, following a Saudi-led airstrike in Taiz city, Yemen, Tuesday, May 12, 2015. Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition kept up their airstrikes in Yemen on Tuesday, targeting the positions of Shiite rebels and their allies just hours ahead of the scheduled start of a five-day humanitarian cease-fire. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik) (The Associated Press)

An armed man looks at graffiti artists spraying on a wall to commemorate the victims who were killed in Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, May 18, 2015. Saudi-led airstrikes targeting Yemen's Shiite rebels resumed early on Monday in the southern port city of Aden after a five-day truce expired amid talks on the war-torn country's future that were boycotted by the rebels. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed) (The Associated Press)

Yemeni girls play with a vehicle damaged by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, May 18, 2015. Saudi-led airstrikes targeting Yemen's Shiite rebels resumed early on Monday in the southern port city of Aden after a five-day truce expired amid talks on the war-torn country's future that were boycotted by the rebels. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed) (The Associated Press)

An Iranian official says Saudi Arabia should not be the one hosting talks on Yemen's conflict since the kingdom is involved in the crisis with Saudi-led airstrikes targeting the country's Shiite rebels.

Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, says a dialogue on Yemen should be mediated by an international organization and held in a "neutral country."

Velayati spoke Monday during a visit to Beirut.

On Sunday, hundreds of Yemeni politicians and tribal leaders gathered in Saudi Arabia for three days of talks on Yemen's future.

However, the Iran-backed rebels known as Houthis did not attend the conference. Their absence meant the dialogue was unlikely to end the violence.

Velayati, a former foreign minister, described the Saudi-led airstrikes against Houthis in Yemen as "savage."