UN: Oil Discharge Operation from Unsafe Tanker in Yemeni Waters to Begin

The United Nations announced that a safe operation to discharge 1.1 million barrels of oil from a decaying tanker anchored off the coast of Yemen will soon begin, with a technical support vessel having arrived in the area to carry out the operation. According to Reuters, UN officials have warned for several years that the Red Sea and the Yemeni coastline are at risk due to the unsafe condition of this tanker. They stated that the tanker 'Safer' could spill four times more oil into the sea than the infamous 'Exxon Valdez' disaster that occurred in 1989 in Alaska if timely action is not taken. The civil war in Yemen and the conflict between the Iran-backed Houthis and a Saudi-led military coalition supporting the Yemeni government have led to the suspension of maintenance operations for the 'Safer' tanker since 2015. The UN has warned that the condition of this tanker is deteriorating and it is at risk of explosion. The UN attempted to raise $129 million for the safe removal of oil from this tanker. It is unclear to which company or country the oil in the 'Safer' tanks belongs. Oman: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq will visit Iran next week. US official: Arms and drug smuggling from Iran to Yemen continues. The US says any efforts to end the Yemen war are good, even from Iran.