Iran aid ship destined for Yemen sailing Indian Ocean waters

An Iranian cargo vessel carrying tons of medical aid and foodstuff is sailing through the Indian Ocean to deliver its humanitarian cargo to war-hit Yemen, Press TV reports.

On Friday, the Iranian ship, dubbed Nejat (Rescue) and carrying 2,500 tons of much-needed humanitarian supplies, continued its journey through the Indian Ocean after leaving the Sea of Oman behind.

Nejat, which belongs to Iran’s Valfajr Shipping Company, left the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas for Yemen’s western port city of Hudaydah, located about 150 kilometers (93 miles) southwest of the capital, Sana’a, on Monday evening.

A Press TV correspondent, who is covering the mission on board the ship, said crew members, activists and members of the media on board have high spirits irrespective of a long way left for the ship to dock at Hudaydah port, and threats to block its voyage.

“We try to get connected to people in France via the Internet, and tell them what is happening in Yemen, because nobody is telling the truth about Yemen. I also try to tell them that there is a mission from Iran, with people from America, Germany and France. We will try to help the people of Yemen,” Samba Diagne, a French political activist, told Press TV.

Hazem al-Kallas, a correspondent for Lebanon-based and Arabic-language al-Mayadeen news network, said, “We joined the journey as soon as the aid ship moved toward Hudaydah to reflect the realities to the viewers. The ongoing developments in Yemen are indeed happening in an Arab country, and Arabs want to know the actual state of affairs in Yemen.”

He added, “This ship is the first foreign humanitarian aid cargo destined for Yemen after a UN ship lately arrived in the country. What is making this event important is the presence of activists, reporters and Red Crescent staffers onboard the ship.”

Saudi military forces fired over a dozen rockets into neighboring Yemen in flagrant violation of the five-day ceasefire, which came into effect at 11:00 p.m. local time (2000 GMT) on May 12.

On Friday afternoon, Saudi soldiers fired at least eight rockets at the al-Mazraq camp in Yemen’s northwestern province of Hajjah. Six other rockets also fired by Saudi forces slammed into al-Husamah area in the northwestern province of Sa’ada.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen Johannes Van Der Klaauw said on Friday, “The impact of the conflict (in Yemen) has shown that it has a dreadful toll on civilians. Two months into the conflict that have been recorded, and these are conservative figures, more than 1,600 people killed and more than 6,200 injured by airstrikes and also [from] fighting on the ground.”

He added that some 450,000 people have been displaced as a result of the continuing violence.

MP/HSN/HJL

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