Saturday, May 23, 2015

Iran Seaborne Aid Cargo to Arrive in Yemen: Official
Sat May 23, 2015 5:8PM
presstv.ir

Iran's seaborne humanitarian aid cargo to war-hit Yemen is set to arrive in the impoverished and war-hit Arab country, says the head of the aid mission.

Alireza Tahami said on Saturday that the World Food Program (WFP) has pledged to deliver Iran’s aid cargo to Yemen by June 5.

"The cargo of the Nejat vessel (Iranian ship delivering the aid) is due to be delivered to the representatives of the WFP in Yemen and the country's Red Crescent Society to be put at the disposal of the oppressed Yemeni people," Tahami added.

Meanwhile, the deputy head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) for legal and international affairs, said, “As the ceasefire in the Hudaydah port (in Yemen) was not extended, it was finally scheduled, after coordination with the WFP, that the Nejat (Rescue) ship be offloaded in Djibouti and IRCS’s humanitarian aid be then delivered to Yemen [from there].”

Mohammad Shahabeddin Mohammadi Araqi added that offloading the ship may take up to two days.

An Iranian ship carrying 2,500 tonnes of basic supplies for Yemen arrived in Djibouti on Friday night and is being currently unloaded.The ship, which set sail from Iran’s port city of Bandar Abbas earlier this month, was first set to dock at Hudaydah port in Yemen but it was later rescheduled to dock in Djibouti.

Araqi also said that Iran was preparing another ship to carry 12,000 tonnes of aid, including foodstuff, flour, rice and sugar, to Yemen.

“The loading and departure of the ship could take nearly one week and the time of its departure is not certain yet,” the IRCS official said.

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.

The United Nations says that, since March 19, over 1,800 people have been killed and 7,330 injured due to the conflict in Yemen, which was exacerbated by the Saudi airstrikes.

No comments: