The Navy warships USS Iwo Jima and USS Fort McHenry were not used in an evacuation of embassy personnel from Yemen, a Navy spokesman said Friday.
“The expeditionary unit remains on station ready to assist,” Navy spokesman Lt. Timothy Hawkins said, but Navy assets were not used.
In a briefing with reporters Friday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki was cautious not to call the movement of personnel an “evacuation,” but a relocation where some of the personnel there could still perform their jobs. She said she could not provide an update on where the staff were moved to or any of the details of how the personnel were relocated, citing security concerns.
Psaki said the embassy in Sanaa remains open, and they are continuing to monitor the situation.
Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said that the Embassy’s detachment of Marines remains as does a contingent of special forces who have been supporting counter-terrorism training there.
“There’s no reduction in military personnel” in Yemen, Kirby said.
The Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship, and the McHenry, a landing ship, are stationed in the Red Sea with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and have beenready to assist the evacuation of personnel at the U.S. embassy in Sanaa. The capital has been under siege by Houthi rebels for several months, and the standoff led to the resignation of Yemen’s president, prime minister and cabinet Thursday.
The two ships are in the region with the USS New York, which is in the Arabian Gulf, Hawkins said. The New York is also a transport docking ship. The three vessels make up part of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group.
