Saba: Iran to Upgrade Yemen Infrastructure

Date: 13 March 2015 - 19:54

News ID: ۱۲۰۰۳

SANAA (Dispatches) -- Iran and the Houthi movement have signed an agreement, under which the Islamic Republic would help upgrade Yemen's infrastructure, Yemen's state-run Saba news agency reported.
The announcement was made by Saleh al-Samad, head of the Houthi group's political council, as he returned home late Thursday following a two-week visit to Iran, the agency said.
Al-Samad has hailed the visit as "successful and fruitful" and asserted that it would bring about positive outcome for Yemen's development plans.
He asserted that his accompanying delegation to the talks included ministry undersecretaries and heads of government agencies.
According to the senior Houthi leader, the agreement was signed by Iranian Trade Minister Muhammad Reza Nematzadeh and would cover cooperation in the sectors of energy, electricity, transportation, water and sewage.
Al-Samad said that Iranian officials had expressed readiness to provide Yemen with oil for one year and to build a 165-megawatt power plant in the energy-starved country.
The agreement also envisaged cooperation to expand and develop the Red Sea port of Al-Hudaydah, he added, referring to the strategic port that the group had seized months ago.
There has been a rise in the number of Yemeni delegations visiting Iran following the initiation of direct flights between Sanaa and Tehran late last month.
In late February, Yemen's Houthi group – which now controls most government institutions in Sanaa – signed a memorandum of understanding with Tehran by which 28 direct flights would be operated between Sanaa and Tehran each week.