Yemen's President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi said on Sunday that the Saudi-brokered deal signed between his government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC) was a great opportunity to achieve peace in the country.

According to the state-run Saba News Agency, Hadi held a meeting with several Arab and foreign ambassadors accredited to Yemen in his temporary residence in Saudi Arabia's capital of Riyadh.

Hadi briefed the foreign diplomatic missions on the latest developments and challenges that Yemen is witnessing at various levels, including those related to the Riyadh deal, which establishes a new phase of security, stability, and peace.

He said that "efforts succeeded to bring out the Riyadh deal through which all the political parties will be included on the basis of legitimacy and national constants."

He pointed out that "the source of optimism is the keenness of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to ensure the success of the deal, which is a great opportunity to achieve a comprehensive peace in Yemen based on the sovereignty of the state."

For their part, the foreign ambassadors to Yemen considered that the signing of Riyadh deal is a historic step and represents an achievement that Yemen needs in such circumstances to build on in order to achieve successive peace achievements.

They affirmed their countries' support for the Saudi-brokered deal of Riyadh and looked forward to the return of their diplomatic missions to the temporary capital of Aden in response to Hadi's call in this regard, according to Saba.

In August, the Yemeni government forces and the STC forces, were engaged in ferocious fighting over control of the south. The STC forces later seized control of Aden, the temporary capital, from the government troops.

Saudi Arabia persuaded the two sides to hold reconciliation talks, which succeeded in reaching a deal to form a new technocrat cabinet of no more than 24 ministers.

The main points of the deal also included the return of the exiled government of Hadi to Aden within seven days, and the unification of all military units under the authority of the ministries of interior and defense.

The Saudi-brokered deal excluded the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who are still controlling Sanaa and other northern provinces of the war-torn Arab country.

The impoverished Arab country has been locked in a civil war since late 2014, when the Houthis overran much of the country and seized all northern areas including the capital Sanaa.