LONDON — The United Kingdom government called on the Iranian-backed Houthi coup militia to allow the United Nations inspectors, to inspect the Safer oil tanker that is moored off the coast of Yemen, to remove its oil load.

In a statement here on Friday, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office warned that the Safer tanker is an environmental disaster in waiting, as 1.14 million barrels of oil the tanker carries could leak into the Red Sea in case it collapses.

Earlier in Ljubljana, the Republic of Slovenia had expressed concern over a possible environmental catastrophe due to the intransigence of the Iranian-backed terrorist Houthi militia if the Safer tanker collapsed.

Slovenia warned of the environmental catastrophic time bomb as the Houthis rejected to allow the arrival of a team of international experts to inspect the tanker and unload it, after its hull deteriorated and the possibility of its collapse is expected at any moment.

Slovenia issued this warning during a meeting on Friday between Non-resident Ambassador of the Republic of Yemen to the Republic of Slovenia Haitham Shuja'addin and the head of Africa and Middle East Department at the Slovenian Foreign Ministry Natalia Almanasur.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has responded positively to demands made by the Yemeni Foreign Ministry to take up the issue of the ruined Safer oil tanker.

The UNSC has decided to hold a session on July 15 amid Yemeni optimism that member states will take decisions that are positive and would enable the world to evade the looming disaster. — SPA