Sana’a: Iran will provide Yemen with fuel for a year and build a power station, the Yemeni state Saba news agency reported.
The Al Houthi group that took control of the capital Sana’a last year sent a delegation to Tehran during which the aid was promised, the news agency reported, citing Saleh Al Sammad, chief of the Al Houthi political department.
In addition to building a 165-megawatt power station, Iran will send experts to look into constructing power stations in the port cities of Hodeida, Aden and Mukha, carrying out maintenance work on the current generating plant in Marib, and expanding the Hodeida port, according to Al Sammad.
The report is a further sign of growing relations between Shiite Iran and the Al Houthis, who follow a sect of Shiite Islam. Earlier this month, the two sides signed an agreement to start direct flights between Sana’a and Tehran.
On Wednesday, the Al Houthis rejected Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s call to hold peace talks in Saudi Arabia, saying its authorities haven’t presented themselves as neutral. Hadi, whose presidency was backed by the Gulf Cooperation Council states, fled Sana’a after its capture by the Al Houthis and is now based in the southern city of Aden.
The conflict threatens to split Yemen, and political instability may allow Al Qaida to expand its operations in the impoverished nation.
