Abdollahian: Mission of Iran Aid Ship for Yemen Coordinated with UN
Local Editor
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Thursday that the mission of an Iranian ship carrying humanitarian aid to Yemen has been coordinated with the United Nations [UN].
Amir-Abdollahian said on Thursday that Iran has coordinated with the UN to prepare the ground for the ship to dock at a port in Yemen.
He added that Iran plans to send planes carrying humanitarian aid to Yemen through Oman and Djibouti.
Additionally, he said that Iran supports the mission of the new UN envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
Also on Thursday, the secretary general of Iran’s Red Crescent Society, Ali Asghar Ahmadi, said that the mission of the Iranian ship has been coordinated with the International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC] and that Iran is only seeking to provide aid and "would not yield to the illusions" of the invaders of Yemen.
He said that sending humanitarian aid to the war-affected Yemenis is in line with international law.
Ahmadi added that in addition to the food supplies, Iranian medical teams are also on board the aid ship to help the injured Yemenis.
On Monday, the Iranian ship, dubbed Nejat [Rescue] and carrying 2,500 tons of much-needed humanitarian supplies, left the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas for Yemen. The ship is heading towards the Yemeni port city of Hudaidah.
The Al-Saud regime has imposed a blockade on the delivery of relief supplies to the war-stricken people of Yemen in defiance of calls by international aid groups.
Saudi war jets recently last month [April] intercepted an Iranian airplane carrying humanitarian aid and medicine as well as injured Yemenis treated in Iran, and prevented it from entering the Yemeni airspace. The plane was forced to turn back although it had obtained the necessary permission to fly along the Oman-Yemen route.
Saudi Arabia began its US-led military aggression against Yemen on March 26 - without a UN mandate - in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement, and to restore power to Yemen’s fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who is a close ally of Saudi Arabia.
According to the latest UN figures, the Saudi military aggression has so far claimed the lives of over 1,400 people and injured close to 6,000 people.
