Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Official Web Site
Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates on Safer Oil Tanker– February 4, 2021
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has noted the statement issued by the spokesman of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Stéphane Dujarric, on February 2, who confirmed that the Houthi militias are considering a “review” of their formal approval of the mission to deploy to the Safer Oil Tanker, and that the timeline of deployment of the mission remains uncertain and dependent on the Houthi decision. .
The Yemeni government has repeatedly warned against the of the Houthi Terrorist Militias’ stalling and manipulating in this dangerous file, using it to bargain and blackmail the international community without paying attention to the warnings and consequences of any imminent leak of more than a million barrels of oil and its dire environmental, economic and humanitarian impacts on Yemen, the region, and international shipping.
Since the UNSC session on Safer Oil Tanker on May 15, 2020, the Yemeni government along with the international community has supported the UN engagement with the Houthis to deploy the technical team and to carry out assessment and initial maintenance in preparation for extracting the oil. Today and after 8 months of discussions between the United Nations and the Houthis, the international community is shocked with this outcome, while the Yemeni government is not, because it is well aware that this terrorist militias, under the direction of Hassan Erlo, the Iranian regime’s official in Sana’a, are using Safer Oil Tanker as a hostage and a time bomb to blackmail the region and the international community to serve Iran’s destructive agenda.
In this regard, the Yemeni government calls upon the international community to change its approach to these militias, particularly in this serious humanitarian and environmental issue, and renews its appeal to the Security Council to take binding and deterrent measures against these militias to ensure the unloading of oil and disposal of the Tanker before the world wakes up to one of the greatest environmental and humanitarian disasters in the region and the world.