CAIRO (Reuters) - Yemen’s Saudi-backed government on Friday said it considered the killing of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani an important step to end conflict in the region.

The comment was posted on Twitter by Muammar al-Iryani, Information Minister of the internationally-recognized government, after the United States carried out an air strike in Iraq that killed Soleimani, architect of Iran’s military influence in the Middle East.

A Saudi-backed military alliance has been helping Yemen’s government fight the Iranian-aligned Houthi movement for almost five years. Iran champions the Houthis as part of an array of anti-U.S. alliances across the region cultivated for years by Soleimani.