Iran Ship Heads Toward Red Sea Amid Fears of Yemen Showdown

2015-0521 Iran Ship Heads Toward Red Sea Amid Fears of Yemen Showdown

Bab Al-Mandeb. (Image curtesy of Google Maps)

DUBAI/CAIRO: An Iranian cargo ship heading to Yemen is expected to cross into the Red Sea on Thursday, state news agency IRNA reported, amid fears of a showdown with Saudi-led forces enforcing restrictions on Yemeni ports.

The approaching vessel threatens to broaden a regional confrontation over Yemen — where Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Muslim allies have launched almost two months of attacks on Houthi fighters it says are armed by Shiite power Iran. Tehran dismisses the allegation.

“If the weather and the ship’s technical conditions persist … we will enter the Bab Al-Mandeb strait tomorrow morning,” the Iran Shahed’s captain Massoud Ghazi Mirsaid was quoted as saying on Wednesday, referring to a stretch of water linking the Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea.

Reuters ship tracking data showed the Iran Shahed positioned south of Aden at 1015 GMT on Wednesday. Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen television said the ship would arrive on Thursday though and activist on board told journalists it would dock on Friday.

By crossing the strait, the Iran Shahed will sail past Djibouti where the United Nations is co-ordinating aid for Yemen. US officials have called on Iran to divert the ship to Djibouti to allow the ship’s cargo to be inspected.

Iran has said the ship is carrying 2,500 tons of food and medical supplies to Yemen’s Hodaida port to help people caught up in the conflict.

(Source: ArabNews.com)

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