The sending of the Iranian ship sparked a war of words with Washington and with Yemen's exiled government, which said measures would be taken if the vessel entered the country's waters.
The Pentagon urged the ship to change course and take its aid to a United Nations hub in Djibouti, to allay worries the cargo might be military.
The Iranian military warned against any attempts to stop it, with a senior commander saying a "fire might start" if the ship was prevented from delivering its cargo.
Quoted by the official IRNA news agency, Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Thursday that Tehran had taken all the necessary measures for the ship to travel to Yemen.
"The required coordination has been done with relevant authorities in the U.N. for the docking of the ship carrying Iran's humanitarian aid for Yemen," he said.
Iranian officials have said the ship carrying 2,500 tons of humanitarian aid is bound for the rebel-held port of Hodeida on Yemen's Red Sea coast. It left Iran's southern port city of Bandar Abbas Monday night.
"Air delivery of Iranian Red Crescent food and medical aid through Oman and Djibouti are also being conducted," Amir-Abdollahian said.
Yemen's government in exile in Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador to Iran in response, insisting that the Iranian aid ship must consent to inspections before docking.
Tehran has described such a search as illegal
Aid agencies have been delivering help to desperate civilians in Yemen after a five-day cease-fire took hold following nearly seven weeks of Saudi-led airstrikes against Shiite Houthi rebels.
Sunni Saudi Arabia has repeatedly accused Shiite power Iran of arming the rebels.
Both Iran and the rebels deny the allegation.
The standoff over the vessel raised the prospect of a potential confrontation between Washington and Tehran in the vital sea lane which links the Gulf and the Indian Ocean with the Mediterranean though the Suez Canal.
dailystar.com.lb
14/5/15
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Iran Warns against Blocking Yemen Aid, Says US Supporting Genocide...
ReplyDeleteIran warned the United States and Saudi Arabia against blocking aid to Yemen, stressing that Washington is an accomplice in the genocide committed in the Arab impoverished state.
Defense Ministry issued a statement on Wednesday saying the US and Al Saud “should bear consequences of any provocative action and evil adventurism on the path of sending help to the Yemeni people.”
The ministry also denounced the US complicity in the “genocide” committed in Yemen.
“By supporting the genocide in Yemen, the US is an accomplice of the war criminals,” the statement read, adding that the shipment of aid from Iran to the war-torn country meant to “relieve the suffering” of the people in the Arab world’s poorest country.
The US is losing its image in Yemen and the rest of the region by backing “infanticide regimes” such as Saudi Arabia and Israel, it added...........http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=210252&cid=19&fromval=1&frid=19&seccatid=32&s1=1
14/5/15