American warships are
prepared to intercept a convoy of Iranian ships suspected of carrying
weapons to Houthi rebel forces in Yemen, senior defense and military
officials told NBC News on Monday.
An Iranian convoy of
freighters, escorted by warships from the Iranian military and
Revolutionary Guard forces, appears headed for Yemen, the officials
said.
They emphasized that
while the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier group would be in position to
intercept the convoy, an intercept could also be carried out by Saudi
Arabia, Egypt or the United Arab Emirates, which are patrolling the
waters off Yemen.
Supported by the United
States, Saudi Arabia has led Sunni Arab countries in carrying out more
than three weeks of airstrikes targeting the rebels, who are backed by
Iran and have seized parts of Yemen.
There is no indication
that U.S. or other coalition warships have been in contact with the
Iranians, but one official told NBC News, "They know we're there."
Some U.S. officials are
concerned that the leak of the information is not good, coming at the
same time as the United States and other countries try to reach a final
agreement on Iran's nuclear program.
"Since this is now
public, the Iranians may feel they've been backed into a corner" and
attempt to run through any blockade set up by the coalition warships,
one official said.
Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Anthony Hopkins II/US NAVY / Reuters
No comments:
Post a Comment