Baku, Azerbaijan, May 12
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran is ready for inspection of its cargo ship that is carrying relief supplies to Yemen, an official with the Islamic Republic's Red Crescent Society (IRCS) based on the ship said.
If someone has doubts about Iran's humanitarian aid to Yemen, Iran welcomes their inspection, the official said, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported May 12.
"Iran is ready to accept full inspection in any port of any country," he said.
Earlier Saudi Arabia's military spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri said that Saudi forces have the right to inspect the Iranian aid ship before it reaches a Yemeni port.
Meanwhile Rear Admial Hossein Azad, a top-ranking Iranian Navy commander said on May 12 that the aid ship is under protection of the Islamic Republic's Navy.
The Iranian Navy's 34th fleet, which is present in the Gulf of Aden and the Strait of Bab el-Mandab, has a special mission to protect the Islamic Republic's humanitarian aid carrying ship.
The Iranian cargo ship carrying 2,500 metric tons of humanitarian aid including food and medicine left Iran's southern Bandar Abbas port on May 11 to the Yemeni port of Hodeida.
The ship also carries rescue workers from the Iran's Red Crescent Society (IRCS) as well as some 20 journalists.
The IRCS has made "necessary coordination" on the issue with the Red Crescent Societies of Yemen, Oman, Djibouti and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Earlier, Ali Asghar Ahmadi Secretary-General of the IRCS said that the Islamic Republic has informed the Red Crescent Society of Saudi Arabia about sending the cargo. The ship is scheduled to arrive at the Hodeida port in ten days.
The Saudi Arabia-led coalition has imposed an air and naval blockade on Yemen as part of its campaign to oust the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi rebels, who have taken most of the country and forced President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee to Riyadh.
Saudi fighter jets have prevented Iranian planes from entering Yemeni airspace in recent weeks.
Iran says that the planes were carrying humanitarian aid to Yemen, meanwhile Saudi Arabia accuse the country of providing military support to the Yemeni Shiite rebels.
Edited by CN
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