SANAA: An Iranian airplane delivered supplies to Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sunday, while the president gained support from influential tribal and provincial leaders in signs that the rival camps seeking to rule the rapidly unraveling country are entrenching their positions.

The first direct flight from Iran to Sanaa was carrying 12 tons of medical supplies as well as tents and Red Crescent aid workers, Iran’s deputy ambassador Rasai Ebadi said. It came a day after rebel Houthi representatives signed an agreement in Tehran to set up 14 direct weekly flights between the two countries.

“The Houthis want to show they’re not disconnected from the world, that they are not desperate, so they’re reviving relations with Iran,” analyst Hisham al-Omeisy said.

Western embassies shut down and evacuated staff from Sanaa last month after the rebels stormed the presidential palace and placed President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi and his Cabinet ministers under house arrest. Hadi, who still claims to be the country’s ruler, later managed to flee to the southern city of Aden.

While Russia, China, Iran and Oman have kept their embassies operating in Sanaa, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have moved theirs to Aden. On Sunday, Qatar too said it would open its embassy there.

Hadi received local officials in Aden Sunday, along with influential tribal leaders and elders from the provinces of Jawf, Marib and Bayda, who assured him of their backing, local television stations reported, adding that Hadi again accused the Houthis of launching a coup against Yemen’s legitimate leadership.

During the meeting, Hadi slammed the agreement signed with Iran as “illegal.”

“Those who signed it will be held accountable,” he said.

Hadi also accused his predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh of conspiring with Iran to scuttle a 2011 deal backed by Gulf states to transfer power to him in cooperation with the Houthi group.

“Hadi said that this alliance between Saleh and the Houthis, in coordination with Iran, was behind the fall of Sanaa on Sept. 21 to the Houthi militias,” a source at the meeting told Reuters.

Meanwhile state news agency SABA, controlled by the Houthis, said the rebels’ new governing council sent a delegation to Tehran Sunday for several days. Saleh al-Samad, a former Hadi adviser who headed the delegation, said the group would discuss furthering economic and political cooperation.

“Relations between Yemen and Iran were brotherly and positive but suffered under previous governments which were influenced by countries leading to a negative impact of relations with Iran,” he said in comments carried by SABA.

In Sanaa, Yemeni airport, security and transportation officials greeted the Iranian Mahan Air flight, an Airbus 310, which the Iranians say will be followed by further humanitarian aid.

Analyst al-Omeisy said with Hadi and the Houthis on a collision course, suspicion of weapons shipments via the Iranian flights will be high.

“They’re headed for a showdown – the Houthis know it and so do the Iranians. There’s a lot of speculation that the flights could eventually contain material other than medical supplies,” he said. “In any case, the Houthis control the airport so in the end nobody knows or will know what exactly is passing through.”