SANAA: Yemen has confirmed the arrest of five Iranians on a boat loaded with weapons, claimed earlier by local officials to be destined to rebels locked in fierce fighting with the army since August.
“Security forces have arrested five Iranians on board a suspicious Iranian boat loaded with weapons off the shores of Midi, in the province of Hajjah,” government spokesman Hassan Al-Louzi said, according to Saba state news agency.
“They are being questioned and the results will be made public,” added Louzi, who is also the minister of information.
A local official in the northwestern province of Hajjah had said on Monday that an Iranian boat carrying arms to the rebels has been seized in the Red Sea.
The province of Hajjah adjoins the rebels’ stronghold of Saada — scene of heavy fighting between the army and the rebels.
Another local official had said that according to the preliminary results of an inquiry, “the five Iranians are instructors” who had planned to deliver the weapons to rebels “and evacuate wounded Iranians.”
Iranian state-owned television on Tuesday denied the Yemeni reports and quoted an unnamed source as charging that they were a “media lie.”
The state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines on Wednesday denied an Iranian ship was involved.
“The report of seizing an Iranian ship loaded with weapons by border guards of Yemen is fake and baseless,” it said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency.
“All ships of this company are operating under international regulations in international waters and ports and so far they have not faced any problem.”
Sanaa accuses Iran of backing the rebels, who are also known as Huthis after their late commander. The rebels deny the charge.
On Aug. 11 the armed forces launched Operation Scorched Earth, aimed at crushing the rebels.
Hundreds of people have been killed or wounded in the clashes, and tens of thousands have been forced to flee their homes, resulting in a humanitarian crisis complicated by a dire shortage of food and other basic necessities.
