The Pentagon is calling on Iran not to unload humanitarian supplies in Yemen but rather dock a ship full of relief items in next door Djibouti, where the United Nations is setting up a supply hub.
If the Iranians are “planning some sort of stunt,” perhaps using the ship to deliver weapons, that would be “unhelpful,” Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren told reporters Tuesday.
A U.S. defense official separately told CNN that the current intelligence indicates there are no weapons on board the Iranian ship, but the concern continues to center around Iranian government statements that its warships will escort the relief vessel.
Warren called that “absolutely unnecessary.”
The relief ship is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, so it will be several days before it is in the vicinity of Yemen.
