An Iranian cargo vessel, carrying 2,500 tons of humanitarian supplies to war-torn Yemen, has now entered the Gulf of Aden.
A Press TV correspondent on board the ship reported on Sunday that the vessel is currently sailing through a very busy international corridor, which is internationally protected against piracy.
The ship, dubbed Nejat (Rescue), is scheduled to arrive in the western Yemeni port city of Hudaydah on May 21.
It set sail from Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas on May 11.
International activists, volunteer doctors and media personnel are also on board the ship. Iran has coordinated the mission of the ship with the United Nations.
Riyadh has blocked earlier Iranian aid deliveries to Yemen. Last month, it prevented two Iranian civilian planes from delivering medical aid and foodstuff to the impoverished people.
Saudi Arabia started its military aggression against Yemen on March 26 – without a UN mandate – in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement, which currently controls the capital, Sana’a, and major provinces, and to restore power to Yemen’s fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who is a staunch ally of Riyadh.
Riyadh has even failed to abide by the so-called ceasefire it announced on May 12, repeatedly carrying out deadly air raids against Yemen after the “truce” went into effect.
UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen Johannes Van der Klaauw said on Friday that over 1,600 people have been killed and more than 6,200 injured in Yemen since conflict intensified there in late March.
He added that some 450,000 people have been displaced as a result of the continuing violence.
DB/MKA/HJL
