Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
An Iranian source has confirmed that the Islamic Republic has signed an agreement with Shiite rebels- Ansarullah- who control Yemen's capital to set up direct flights between the two countries.
The agreement was signed after a Yemeni delegation's visit to Tehran last week, an Iranian source said, the country's ISNA news agency reported March 1.
The first flight carrying humanitarian supplies and medical assistance to Yemen has been initiated from Tehran to Sanaa on March 1, the source said.
The number of weekly direct flights between Tehran and Sanna is planned to reach 14, the source said, adding all Iranian and Yemeni airlines can be involved in the flights.
The Ansarullah group, whose power base is in the main Shiite northern highlands, overran Sanaa unopposed in last September.
Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi managed to escape Sanaa and house arrest at the hands of the rebels on Feb. 21 and has established a base in the southern city of Aden, from where he says he is still the country's rightful ruler.
On Feb. 28, Bahrain announced it was relocating its embassy in Yemen to Aden, a move aimed at supporting Hadi. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have done the same since Feb. 27.
Last December Deputy Commander of Iran's IRGC, Hussein Salami said the balance of power in the region is changed in Iran's favor.
He said that the Yemeni Ansarullah group moves in accordance with the Islamic Revolution (1979) within Iran's geopolitical space. In his similar statements, Iran's former foreign minister, Ali Akbar Velayati said mid-December that the Islamic Republic's current influence spreads from Yemen to Lebanon.
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