Iran dismissed as “false” Friday a declare by the British and US navies that Iranian weapons had been seized from a smuggling boat apparently headed to Yemen.
The international ministry accused the Western allies of making an attempt to divert consideration from their very own arming of a Saudi-led coalition that has waged a devastating marketing campaign towards Yemen’s Iran-backed rebels since 2015.
“The international locations which have been the principle perpetrators of struggle all through historical past… are attempting to mislead world public opinion by making false claims and selling pretend information,” ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani mentioned in a press release.
“The international locations which have prompted the dying of individuals and the destruction of Yemen by sending billions of {dollars}’ price of weapons to the aggressor coalition, can’t exonerate themselves by accusing others.”
On Thursday, the British embassy within the United Arab Emirates introduced that the Royal Navy had seized Iranian-made weapons from a smuggling vessel off the coast of Oman final week.
The small craft, travelling at “excessive pace” after darkish in worldwide waters, was initially noticed by US aerial surveillance, a press release by the embassy mentioned.
The weapons retrieved included medium-range ballistic missile parts as effectively Iranian variations of Russia’s Kornet anti-tank missile, it added.
The seizure passed off on February 23 alongside a route traditionally used to smuggle weapons to Yemen, based on the Bahrain-based United States Fifth Fleet.
“That is the seventh unlawful weapon or drug interdiction within the final three months and one more instance of Iran’s rising malign maritime exercise throughout the area,” mentioned US Vice-Admiral Brad Cooper.
In January, the US Navy mentioned it had seized greater than 2,000 assault rifles smuggled on a fishing boat alongside a maritime route from Iran to Yemen.
Iran’s regional rival, Saudi Arabia, has accused it of offering navy assist to the Yemeni rebels, particularly rockets and missile parts, allegations Tehran denies.
The Yemen battle has killed lots of of hundreds of individuals instantly or not directly and left hundreds of thousands getting ready to famine, based on the United Nations which calls it the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.
Preventing has largely been on maintain since a UN-brokered ceasefire took impact in April final 12 months, even after the settlement expired in October.
The UN Safety Council expanded an arms embargo on the Huthis in February 2022.
pdm/kir