BREAKING NEWS

Iranian ship carries aid, activists into waters off Yemen

DUBAI - An Iranian cargo ship carrying aid and activists crossed into the Gulf of Aden on Sunday and will reach Yemen's Hodaida port on May 21, Iranian media reported, in a challenge to Saudi-led naval forces controlling Yemeni waters.
A coalition of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia has imposed searches on all ships trying to enter Yemen in a bid to prevent weapons being smuggled to the Iran-allied Houthi rebel group which controls much of the country, including Hodaida.
Iranian officials last week said they would not allow the Saudi-led forces to inspect the Iran Shahed, which is under military escort, and warned of war if the cargo ship was attacked.
"After entering the Gulf of Aden today... we expect to be in the confines of Hodaida port early on May 21," the Iran Shahed's captain, Massoud Ghazi Mirsaid, was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.