Saudi Arabia Denies Iranian Navy Entrance to Yemen's Gulf of Aden

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Saudi-led coalition engaged in anti-Houthi airstrikes in Yemen will not allow the Iranian navy's fleet entrance into Yemeni territorial waters on suspicion of Tehran providing military support to the Shiite rebels, local media reported on Wednesday.

Al Arabiya cited Saudi Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri as saying Tehran's warships have the right to traverse international waters but not territorial waters belonging to Yemen.

The Iranian navy dispatched a flotilla earlier in the day consisting of a logistics support vessel and a destroyer to the Gulf of Aden to provide safety for Iran's shipping lines and protect its interest in the high seas, according to the country's navy commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari.

The standoff between the Sunni and Shiite Muslim regional powers comes as an air campaign against Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen conducted by the coalition entered into its second week on Wednesday.

Embroiled in the latest wave of violence since the Houthis' capture of substantial parts of the country, including the capital of Sanaa and the southern port city of Aden, Yemen has seen a rapid escalation in casualties.

According to the World Health Organization's latest figures on the Yemeni conflict, nearly 650 people have been killed and over 2,200 injured since March 19.