The cargo vessel Nejat (literally 'rescue') which carries 2,500 tons of humanitarian supplies to Yemen reached the Gulf of Aden on Sunday, Fars new agency reported.
The shipment includes 2,400 tons of foodstuff such as bread, flour, rice, canned food and mineral water and about 100 tons of medicines and medical equipment. Medical practitioners, members of the Iranian Red Crescent Society and anti-war campaigners from the US, Germany and France as well as journalists are also on board.
Located in the Arabian Sea between Yemen, on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula and Somalia in the Horn of Africa, Gulf of Aden connects in the northwest with the Red Sea through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait. The Gulf had been a hub for piracy in recent years.
The navy has already dispatched its 34th fleet on a mission in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea in keeping with international commitments to combat maritime terrorism and in an effort to protect cargo ships and oil tankers from pirates.
The aid ship left the southern port city of Bandar Abbas on May 11 and is scheduled to arrive in the Yemeni port Hudaydah on May 21.
The Islamic Republic had dispatched humanitarian aid using two cargo planes to Yemen last month, but the Saudi-led coalition blocked the deliveries.
