By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group has agreed to a temporary truce to allow tugboats and rescue ships to reach the damaged Greek-flagged crude oil tanker Sounion in the Red Sea, Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York said on Wednesday.
“Several countries have reached out to ask Ansarullah (the Houthis), requesting a temporary truce for the entry of tugboats and rescue ships into the incident area,” Iran’s U.N. mission said. “In consideration of humanitarian and environmental concerns, Ansarullah has consented to this request.”
The Sounion was targeted last week by multiple projectiles off Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah. It was still on fire in the Red Sea and now appears to be leaking oil, a Pentagon spokesman said on Tuesday.
Houthi militants, who control Yemen’s most populous regions, said they attacked it. The group has been attacking ships in solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza.
Yemen’s Houthis spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam told Reuters on Wednesday there is no temporary truce and the group only agreed on allowing the towing of oil tanker Sounion after several international parties contacted the group.
Pentagon spokesman Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder said on Tuesday that a third party had tried to send two tugs to help salvage the Sounion, but the Houthis threatened to attack them.
Iran’s U.N. mission responded on Wednesday: “The failure to provide aid and prevent an oil spill in the Red Sea stems from the negligence of certain countries, rather than concerns over the possibility of being targeted.”
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Katharine Jackson and Jonathan Oatis)
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