U.S. Puts Nine Warships Off Yemen's Coast; Iranian Ships May Be Looking To Resupply Rebels; Iran Says They Won't Be Swayed By Threats; U.N. Intent On Stopping Iranian Weapons
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 7:00 p.m. in Berlin, 8:00 p.m. in Irbil and 9:30 p.m. in Tehran. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. We start with a swirl of activity surrounding Iran and the United States. Right now, two more U.S. warships, they've joined others off Yemen's coast, waiting for Iranian ships that may be carrying weapons intended for rebel fighters in Yemen. This while negotiators resume talks on Iran's nuclear program. Iran wants immediate cessation of sanctions an idea the United States may be, repeat, may be closer to accepting. But the Obama administration is also calling Iran's judiciary absurd after they leveled espionage charges against an American journalist held there. Last week, the Iraqi prime minister was here in Washington. While asking for more money and weapons to fight ISIS, Haider Al Abadi sided with Iran saying that the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen was pushing the region closer to a greater war. But that hasn't stopped the United States from taking a larger role in the Arab coalition with nine U.S. warships now settled off the coast of Yemen. Here with me is our Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto. Jim, it sets the stage for what I call compartmentalization.</s>JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes.</s>BLITZER: Negotiations in Vienna over the nuclear deal while, at the same time, the potential for some sort of confrontation between the U.S. and Iranian warships off the coast of Yemen.</s>SCIUTTO: Well, the circumstances are certainly tense and dangerous. But let's say this, the principle mission of those U.S. warships now is because of the deterioration of the situation in Yemen. It gives the president military options, counterterror options off the deck of an aircraft carrier inside Yemen if he would decide to strike. In addition to that, they are monitoring these nine Iranian ships for the possibility that they go into Yemeni territorial waters, and they would be, theoretically, prepared to board them. But, frankly, and I've talked to a lot of defense officials about this, that would be an extraordinary scenario, to have a U.S. ship boarding -- blocking and boarding an Iranian ship. There are other options. You have allied ships in the area, the Saudis, Egyptians who are part of this flotilla watching the Iranians. And, to be frank, there are other options for the president down the line. If this ship -- if those Iranian ships are indeed carrying weapons -- they're not certain. The satellite photographs show containers. They're not certain they have weapons. But if they are, once the weapons go ashore, you have other options, opportunities to destroy them, interdict them, et cetera. So, I think what you're seeing now is a show of force by the U.S. in a very tense situation. The U.S. has made its position clear on Iran arming the Houthi rebels. But I would say, based on the conversations I'm having, that it's extremely unlikely that you would have a U.S. naval personnel forcibly boarding an Iranian ship.</s>BLITZER: Because the argument has been made, and it's an international legal argument, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution saying you can't arm the Houthi rebels, the Shiite-led Iran-backed Houthi rebels. So, it's one thing for Iranian ships to be transporting arms in international waters, but once they get into Yemeni water, sovereign waters, territorial waters of Yemen, technically, there is an international legal authority to go ahead and inspect those ships.</s>SCIUTTO: Absolutely. And you'll notice, in statements from U.S. officials and others in the region, they have mentioned those very U.N. Security Council resolutions as a kind of public reminder, a marker to the Iranians, one, that we're watching. We've got our ships there. And two, we consider that U.N. resolution enforceable. Now, making the step where you use, in effect, the forcible boarding to enforce that, that's a really risky move. It's not a move that U.S. decided to make but you have assets in that region out to monitor.</s>BLITZER: It's a serious situation, a tense situation. And it's not just U.S. warships. As you say, Saudi warships and there are Egyptian warships, UAE warships that are also in the region. The potential is there.</s>SCIUTTO: Absolutely. And we don't control what they do, necessarily. We're allies but we can't tell them not to if they were to make that decision.</s>BLITZER: And no love between the Saudis, for example, and the Iranians, as we all know.</s>SCIUTTO: Exactly.</s>BLITZER: All Right, Jim Sciutto, thanks very much. As Yemen descends further into chaos, the escape route for many people trapped there has closed. The International Organization for Migration had been running emergency flights out of Yemen's capital, but now they, too, are considered too dangerous. Our Fred Pleitgen, meanwhile, has more on Yemen and what role Iran says they are playing there.</s>FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Escalating violence on the ground in Yemen. But there may be an even more dangerous confrontation brewing at sea. While the U.S. has sent warships to the area to intercept Iranian vessels that might make a run for Yemen's waters, the commander of Iran's navy tells me his forces have no such intentions.</s>HABBOLLAH SAYYAN, COMMANDER, IRAN REGULAR NAVY (translated): We don't let anyone gives us warnings or threats, he says, because we are working according to international law and regulations, and we work for the security of our country and other countries.</s>PLEITGEN: The U.N. passed a resolution placing an arms embargo on the Houthi rebels that have taken control of much of Yemen. Saudi Arabia and the U.S. accuse Iran of supplying the Houthis with weapons. But Iran says its ships are just in the area to fight piracy.</s>SAYYAN: We've established a presence in that area to protect our oil tankers and other Iranian ships. And, up to today, we've been very successful and, in some instances, other countries have even asked us for help.</s>PLEITGEN: The Iranians heavily criticize Saudi Arabia's air campaign against the Houthis but say they will only provide food and medical assistance. Workers loading supplies at this warehouse in Tehran slated to go to Yemen.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this one is</s>PLEITGEN (on camera): So, it's mostly pain relievers.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pain, antibody (ph) serum.</s>PLEITGEN (voice-over): The Iranian Red Crescent tells us they've not been able to make any shipments to Yemen since late March, but officials want to resume deliveries as fast as possible. (on camera): Iran maintains that any aid it sends to Yemen is purely humanitarian. Now, this shipment is supposed to go out today but with the fighting going on in Yemen it's unclear when or if it will reach its destination. (voice-over): While Iran and world powers continue to negotiate towards a final nuclear agreement, in other matters, like the Yemen conflict, tensions between Tehran and Washington continue to grow.</s>BLITZER: Let's bring in Fred Pleitgen. He's joining us live from Tehran in Iran right now. Fred, over the weekend, as you know, Ayatollah Hamani said this, he said, the threat to the region, in his words, is, quote, "America itself with its unrestrained destabilizing interventions" and said the other side was, quote, "methodically and shamelessly threatening us militarily." Is that the tone you've been hearing there from officials, government, military leaders on the ground in Iran?</s>PLEITGEN (live): Well, it certainly has been, Wolf. But there is also that element of what you were talking about before, that compartmentalization. You know, I came here on Saturday and that was the day that the Iranians here celebrated their National Army Day parade. And during that time, you did have banners going around saying, death to America. You had President Hassan Rouhani giving a speech saying that he believed that the Iranian military was the stabilizing force, not only for Iran itself but for the entire region. They praised what they were doing in Iraq. They were senior military leaders here who normally never speak to western media who told me that they believe it's their strategy that is winning in Iraq rather than the one that the -- that the Americans are following. So, certainly, there is an element where they clearly say they believe that America isn't a threat to them. They clearly celebrate their military and its readiness. But on the same time, and this is so interesting, they also say they want negotiations, especially if you talk to members of the Rouhani government. I spoke to the vice president just yesterday and she told me, of course they want to deal. Of course they want to make a deal happen but she also acknowledged that there were forces here who were more conservative who, of course, are more difficult to persuade in such a thing -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Fred Pleitgen reporting live from Tehran for us. We'll stay in very close touch with you over these next several days. Thank you. Up next, much more on the rising tensions between the United States and Iran, as American warships stand guard over Yemen's coast. Plus, at 93, he's one of the few former Nazi SS Guards (ph) still alive. The accountant who kept the books at Auschwitz finally stands trial. The horrifying allegations against him, his defense, all that and as lot more coming up.