‘Basic Warning Strike’ Staged by Yemen to Prevent Saudi Oil Theft: Spokesman
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Yemen’s army spokesman said the armed forces have carried out a warning strike against a Saudi oil tanker that attempted to steal crude supplies from an oil terminal lying in the impoverished country's south.
Brigadier General Yahya Saree reported the strike on Friday after the Saudi ship tried to loot oil through the Dabba port in Yemen's Hadhramout Province.
The "basic warning strike" was carried out in efforts to prevent the continuation of looting Yemen's oil wealth, which must rather be used towards paying Yemeni people's salaries, the official added, as cited in a report by the country’s al-Masirah television network.
"The Armed Forces will not hesitate to prevent any ship from trying to plunder the wealth of the Yemeni people," Saree emphasized.
"We are able to launch more warning operations to defend Yemeni people," he noted, adding, "We renew [our] warning to all companies to fully comply with the decisions of the authorities in [the Yemeni capital] Sana’a" and avoid contributing to the oil theft.
The despotic Saudi regime launched a devastating war of aggression against Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration with a number of its allies while receiving weapons and logistical support from the US and several other Western countries.
The objective was to restore power to Yemen's former Riyadh-backed regime and crush the country's Ansarullah popular resistance movement, which has been running state affairs in the absence of an effective government in the country.
Despite killing tens of thousands of Yemenis and turning entire Yemen into the scene of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, the Saudi-led coalition has so far failed to fulfill its goals.
Throughout the invasion, the coalition has also been enforcing a crippling siege on the Arab world's already poorest nation, preventing it from exporting its oil reserves and also stopping fuel-laden vessels from berthing at Yemen's lifeline al-Hudaydah port.
