US warns against Iranian weapons in Yemen

Amid Saudi-led coalition’s decision to end air strikes, US President Barack Obama said the US government had sent a very direct message to Iran warning not to supply weapons to Yemen that could be used to threaten shipping traffic in the region.

This comes after the presence of a large convoy of Iranian cargo ships were detected in the Arabian Sea, leading to the deployment of additional US warships in the waters of Yemen. The US sent USS Theodore Roosevelt and cruiser USS Normandy to intercept Iranian ships carrying arms to Iranian-supported Houthi rebels fighting in Yemen to overthrow Saudi- backed President

In an interview on MSNBC’s Hardball, the president underlined, “Right now their ships are in international waters. There’s a reason why we keep some of our ships in the Persian Gulf region and that is to make sure that we maintain freedom of navigation.” He added, “What we’ve said to them is that, if there are weapons delivered to factions within Yemen that could threaten navigation, that’s a problem,” he added. “And we’re not sending them obscure messages. We are being very direct.”

Pentagon Spokesman Steve Warren said the US didn’t know what Iranian flotilla of nine ships was carrying. He also declined to comment on whether the US warships would stop the Iranian vessels if they try to enter Yemeni territorial water. Mr Warren said, “I am not going to telegraph anything.”

The Houthi rebels sidelined the Yemeni government after seizing the capital Sana’a. They have also occupied large swathes of the country, especially the areas bordering oil-rich Saudi Arabia. In response, Saudi Arabia-led coalition comprising of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Sudan and Egypt, began a campaign of air-strikes against the rebels, that will end soon.

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