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Iran seeks UN help for delivery of aid supplies to Yemen

Xinhua, May 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif called on Monday for the United Nations' assistance to deliver humanitarian supplies to Yemen, Tasnim news agency reported.

"The UN needs to create a protected zone in Yemen so that humanitarian aid could be delivered," Zarif said in a joint press conference in Tehran.

It is time for the UN to take control of the situation in Yemen, he said, adding that the international body should shoulder the responsibility for extending the truce in the Arab state.

"The (Saudi-led) attacks on civilian areas are ongoing and regrettably humanitarian aid does not reach those areas, which poses a serious challenge," Zarif was quoted as saying.

"The restrictions imposed on the Yemeni population by the Saudi-led coalition are unacceptable and violate international regulations and human rights laws," he added.

Last Monday, an Iranian aid ship called Rescue Ship with 2,500 tons of food supplies and medicine left the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas and headed for Yemen via the Gulf of Aden, Tasnim reported.

Iran deployed its 34th fleet, comprising the Bushehr logistic vessel and Alborz destroyer, to the high seas and is fully prepared to conduct its mission, Commander of Iran's First Naval Zone Admiral Amir Hossein Azad said Sunday.

The aid ship's captain, Masoud Qazi Mirsaeed, said the Iranian navy will escort the aid ship to the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, which will arrive in three days according to the report.

Iran has warned against attempts to target Iran's aid ship. "Attacking the ship will launch a regional war," Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iran's Armed Forces Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri said Wednesday.

The fleet is patrolling the Gulf of Aden, the north of the Indian Ocean and the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb to secure naval routes and defend Iran's interests, Azad was quoted as saying by Press TV.

Saudi Arabia has long accused Iran of arming and financing Houthi fighters, an accusation strongly rejected by Tehran. Endit