Sanaa - A US aircraft carrier was headed to the Arabian Sea Tuesday as Washington said it was monitoring Iranian vessels suspected of carrying weapons to Yemeni rebels in violation of a UN embargo.
Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia, leading the air war on the rebels, meanwhile mobilised its National Guard for operations in Yemen, state media said, without clarifying how the 100,000-strong force would join the campaign.
In Geneva, the UN health agency said more than 900 people had been killed in Yemen since late March, when a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes against the Iran-backed Huthi Shiite rebels clashing with pro-government forces.
And the International Organization for Migration announced a temporary suspension of its evacuation efforts due to insecurity.
Amid reports of a nine-ship Iranian convoy in the area, the US Navy said it was sending the USS Theodore Roosevelt and guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy "to ensure the vital shipping lanes in the region remain open and safe".
The deployment brings to nine the number of US warships in the area, but the Pentagon denied reports they had orders to intercept the Iranian vessels.
Strategically located on key shipping routes and bordering oil-rich Saudi Arabia, Yemen was plunged into chaos last year when the Huthis seized the capital Sanaa.
The coalition of Sunni Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia launched an air campaign against the rebels last month, vowing to restore the authority of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled to Riyadh as the rebels advanced on his southern refuge Aden.
The United States says it is not taking part directly in the strikes, but is providing intelligence and logistical support.
Coalition warplanes pressed their air strikes against the rebels and their allies in the security forces overnight, as the civilian death toll from a Monday raid on a missile depot in the capital rose to 38.
A further 532 people were wounded when the twin strikes sparked powerful explosions that flattened nearby houses, medics said.
The base was held by the elite Republican Guard, which remains loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh who has been accused of siding with the Huthis in their fight against Hadi's forces.
Rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam slammed the strikes on the base as a "barbaric crime", insisting on Facebook that the "aggression will only unite the Yemeni people".
AFP
