Off the wire
• Russia-led military alliance CSTO completes joint training in Tajikistan  • China sends more relief equipment, staff to Nepal  • China accelerates transport construction investment  • Backgrounder: Gangs in United States  • China slashes tax to promote green vehicles, ships  • Head of Buddha from Japan reunited with body in China  • Suspected ivory smugglers detained in S. China  • 3rd LD: Six wounded in explosions at Turkish opposition party buildings  • 1st LD-Writethru: China sets economic reform priorities for 2015  • Asia becomes world's largest investor region: UNCTAD  
You are here: 　 Home

Iranian navy escorts aid ship to Yemen: report

Xinhua, May 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

An Iranian aid ship destined for Yemen is currently in the Gulf of Aden, escorted by the Iranian navy, Tasnim news agency reported on Monday.

The Iranian navy will escort and support the vessel to the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, its captain Masoud Qazi Mirsaeed was quoted as saying.

The ship will arrive in Hodeidah in three days, he added.

Last Monday, an Iranian aid ship carrying 2,500 tons of food supplies and medicine left the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas for Yemen.

Iran has warned against any attempt to target its aid ship to Yemen. Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iran's Armed Forces Brig. Gen. Masoud Jazayeri said last week that attacking the ship will start a war in the region.

Saudi Arabia, along with eight other Arab states, has been bombing Houthi rebels and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh since March 26, aiming to reinstate the government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who was forced to flee the country.

Riyadh has long been accusing Iran of arming and financing the Houthi fighters, an accusation strongly rejected by Tehran.

The death toll from the battles between Houthis and Hadi supporters and the airstrikes have exceeded 1,200, while more than 3,000 people were wounded across the country, according to statistics released by the Yemeni government. Endit