Head of relief aid unit of the Iranian Red Crescent Society Nasser Charkhsaz told reporters that the Iranian ship carrying humanitarian aid for the people of war-stricken Yemen is to dock in Djibouti, as the international officials from the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the World Food Program (WFP) are stationed there to hub the relief aids dispatch to Yemen.
Charkhsaz did not give details of the scheduled stay in Djibouti, but reaffirmed that after the legal procedures, the ship will head to Yemen.
He also expressed content with weather condition that contributes to the ship’s movement.
Setting sail from Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas on May 11, the Nejat (Rescue) cargo ship, containing 2,500 tons of much-needed aid, including food (like flour, rice, canned food, and bottled water), medical supplies and tents all urgently needed in the conflict-wracked and impoverished state.
Its passengers include doctors, anti-war activists from the United States, France and Germany, and journalists.
Having UN approval for the humanitarian mission, the aid consignment was donated by the IRCS and was set to dock in Yemen’s port of al-Hudaydah in the Red Sea, but the problems in the Red Sea led officials to change the path after coordinating with international bodies and Iran’s foreign ministry.
Riyadh has blocked earlier Iranian aid deliveries to Yemen. Last month, it prevented two Iranian civilian planes from delivering medical aid and foodstuff to the impoverished people.
Before Saudi siege on humanitarian aids, Tehran had previously dispatched 50 tones of medical aid and foodstuff to Sana’a.
On Wednesday, UN aid chief Valerie Amos met Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran to discuss speeding up relief to Yemen.
Earlier this month, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and medical charity group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), known in English as Doctors Without Borders, expressed “extreme" concern about the Saudi airstrikes on Yemen’s lifelines and its obstruction of aid deliveries to the impoverished nation.
UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen Johannes Van der Klaauw said on Friday that over 1,600 people have been killed and more than 6,200 injured in Yemen since conflict intensified there in late March.
He added that some 450,000 people have been displaced as a result of the continuing violence.
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