"CHANGE" - Iran not to permit its aid ship’s inspection.

"CHANGE" - Iran not to permit its aid ship’s inspection. (Taz).

Iran will not permit the countries involved in the Yemen civil war to inspect its cargo ship carrying humanitarian aids to Yemen, the Islamic Republic’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham said May 13.

This is while it was already announced that Tehran is ready for full inspection of the ship in any port of any country.

“If someone has doubts about Iran ’s humanitarian aid to Yemen, Iran welcomes their inspection, an official with the Islamic Republic’s Red Crescent Society (IRCS) based on the ship said May 12.

Meanwhile Afkham emphasized that the Saudi Arabia-led coalition members cannot inspect the ship.

The Iranian official also criticized the blockade on Yemen, saying the blockade has forced the country into a humanitarian catastrophe, Iran ’s Tasnim news agency reported.

The Iranian cargo ship carrying 2,500 metric tons of humanitarian aid including food and medicine left Iran ’s southern Bandar Abbas port on May 11 to the Yemeni port of Hodeida.

The ship also carries rescue workers from the Iran 's Red Crescent Society (IRCS) as well as some 20 journalists.

The Iranian Navy’s 34th fleet, which is present in the Gulf of Aden and the Strait of Bab el-Mandab, has been commissioned to protect the Islamic Republic’s ship.

Earlier Saudi Arabia ’s military spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri said that Saudi forces have the right to inspect the Iranian aid ship before it reaches a Yemeni port.

Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri has threatened that attacking the Iranian aid ship will “ignite the flames of war” in the region.Hmmmm.....Of course we lied....we're Iranians.

Related:

The U.S. said today the Iranian ship carrying aid to Yemen should change course and head to Djibouti where the United Nations is overseeing humanitarian deliveries to Yemen. The U.S. Navy is tracking the ship after Iran said it would send warships to escort the vessel to Yemen, said Pentagon spokesman Col. Steven Warren.

“The Iranians have stated that this is humanitarian aid,” Warren said. “If that is the case, then we certainly encourage the Iranians to deliver that humanitarian aid to the United Nations humanitarian aid distribution hub, which has been established in Djibouti.” (AFP, 12 May)

“We call on the Iranians to do the right thing here and deliver their humanitarian aid in accordance with UN protocols which is through the distribution hub,” Warren said.

“If the Iranians are planning some sort of stunt in the region, they know as well as we do that it would be unhelpful and in fact could potentially threaten the ceasefire that has been so painstakingly brought about,” Warren said.