Iran Denies UK, US Seized Arms Allegedly Sea-Smuggled From Iran To Yemen

The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Friday rejected as false the statement made by the United Kingdom about the seizure of weapons allegedly smuggled by Iranians in the Gulf of Oman for the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The UK navy said on Thursday that it intercepted the boat in a joint operation with the US navy and "confiscated" the arms on board. It did not specifically called the boat Iranian but said that it tried to escape the chase by "steering their craft towards Iranian territorial waters."

"(Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser) Kanaani rejected this false claim, saying those countries that have supplied weapons worth billions of Dollars to an invading coalition and have caused the death of people and destruction of Yemen, cannot acquit themselves of this wrongdoing by making accusations against others," the ministry said.

Kanaani called the same countries "the main culprits behind war-mongering throughout history and ... the biggest arms suppliers to crisis zones of the world," and said that making accusations against Iran and other countries was their of manipulating the opinions of the international community.

Yemen has been gripped by an internal conflict between the government forces and the Houthi rebels since 2014. The situation was exacerbated in March 2015, when the Saudi-led Arab alliance, working in cooperation with the internationally-recognized Yemeni government, began conducting air, land and sea operations against the Houthis. The latter have retaliated by attacking Saudi forces and firing missiles into Saudi Arabia.