TEHRAN (AFP) – Tehran yesterday rejected Britain’s claim that it had seized advanced weaponry being smuggled from Iran towards Yemen, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence on Thursday said one of its warships on patrol in the Gulf earlier this year seized the arms shipment, which contravened a United Nations Security Council resolution to prevent support for Yemen’s Huthis rebels.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani rejected Britain’s claim as “baseless”, accusing the United Kingdom (UK) of being complicit in the war in Yemen.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence said the HMS Montrose intercepted speedboats carrying surface-to-air-missiles and engines for land attack cruise missiles while on routine patrols on two occasions in January and February.
The ministry added that the types of cruise missiles seized are regularly used by Huthi rebels in Yemen to strike targets in Saudi Arabia.
Those models were fired into Abu Dhabi in January, in an attack that killed three civilians, it said.
Iran has widely been reported to offer material support to the Huthi rebels during the seven-year war, a claim rejected by Tehran.
