Iran’s Aid Ship Arrives in Gulf of Aden
(FNA)- The Iranian cargo ship carrying humanitarian aid to Yemen arrived in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday, FNA dispatches said Sunday.
The Iranian cargo ship will berth in the port city of al-Hudayda in Southern Yemen in the Red Sea after passing through Bab al-Mandeb strait.
The ship carrying 2,500 tons of Iran's aid comprising 2,400 tons of foodstuff and 100 tons of medicine as well as a 12-member medical team left Southern Iran for Yemen last Monday.
A large number of Yemeni people are waiting on the coasts of Hudayda to welcome the Iranian cargo ship.
The residents of al-Hudayda have gathered on the coasts since a few days ago to receive Iran's medical and food aid.
The people of Hudayda have called on residents of other Yemeni provinces to stage rallies in support of Iran's aid ship to Yemen and condemning Saudi Arabia and its hostile policies towards their country.
The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) has been trying to dispatch humanitarian aid to Yemen through sea and air, but has so far been unable to do so due to Saudi Arabia's blockade of the war-ravaged country.
Late in April, Saudi jet fighters shooed away three Iranian cargo planes from Yemen's airspace. But in the third case they bombed the Sana'a airport control tower and runway seven times to prevent the Iranian defying pilot from landing. The Iranian civilian plane was carrying humanitarian aids, including medical equipment, for the Yemeni people who have been under the Saudi-led airstrikes for over a month now. The cargo plane was due to take humanitarian aid to Yemen and take several civilians, who were critically wounded in the recent Saudi bombings, back to Tehran to receive specialized medical treatment.
Iran had earlier sent five consignments of humanitarian aid to Yemen, including a total of 69 tons of relief, medical, treatment, and consumer items
Last month, Head of the Yemeni Red Crescent Society Mohammad Ahmad al-Kebab in a letter to his Iranian counterpart Seyed Amir Mohsen Ziayee thanked Iran for the recent humanitarian and medical aid cargoes sent to his country.
"I appreciate the unsparing help and relief operations as well as the IRCS's humanitarian attempts," al-Kebab said in his letter.
He expressed the hope that interactions and mutual cooperation between the two countries' Red Crescent societies would increase in future.
But late in April, the IRCS blasted Saudi Arabia for blocking Iran's humanitarian aids to Yemen.
"The IRCS humanitarian aid consignments are ready to be dispatched to Yemen, but unfortunately Saudi Arabia prevents their delivery to Yemen," Shahabeddin Mohammadi Araqi, IRCS deputy managing director for international and humanitarian affairs, said.
Mohammadi Araqi described the Yemeni people's conditions as critical, and said, "We are in contact with Yemen's Red Crescent Society and Health Ministry and have included their needs in the new consignment."
He lamented that planes and ships are not allowed into Yemen's ports and airports, and said, "Unfortunately, the Saudi government has prevented the dispatch of aids to Yemen."
According to a recent report by Freedom House Foundation, nearly seven weeks of Saudi airstrikes have claimed the lives of 3,979 Yemeni people so far while more than 6,887 others have been wounded.
The foundation further said that most of the victims of the deadly Saudi campaign are civilians, including a large number of women and children.
The group noted that the actual death toll is much higher as it does not include hundreds of people listed as missing.
Thousands of residential buildings have been destroyed and hundreds of civil and public facilities were reduced to rubble as a result of the bombardments by Saudi warplanes on the Yemeni cities and towns, the group said.
Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen for 53 days now to restore power to fugitive president Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Saudi-led aggression has so far killed at least 3,812 Yemenis, including hundreds of women and children, according to FNA's independent tally.
Hadi stepped down in January and refused to reconsider the decision despite calls by Ansarullah revolutionaries of the Houthi movement.
Despite Riyadh's claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi warplanes are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.
On April 21 and May 12, Saudi Arabia declared end to Yemen airstrikes after weeks of bombings, but airstrikes are still underway.
The five-day truce was proposed by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir last week. Yemen’s Ansarullah movement has announced its cooperation in any actions that will stop suffering in the country.