Iran Rejects British Accusation That It Tried to Send Missiles to Yemen

On Friday, Iran rejected a British claim that the Royal Navy seized missiles that Iran was trying to send to the Houthis in Yemen.

Britain announced on Thursday that a Royal Navy frigate intercepted speed boats off the coast of Iran on two separate occasions that were carrying missiles and components bound for Yemen earlier this year.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani dismissed the claim as “baseless” and said the UK wasn’t in a position to talk about the issue since it arms the US-backed Saudi-led coalition, which has regularly hit civilian targets since intervening in Yemen in 2015.

“By continuously selling advanced weapons to the self-proclaimed military coalition against the defenseless people of Yemen, Britain is an accomplice in the war and aggression against Yemen and is in no position to make such baseless accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Kanani said, according to the Iranian news agency Mehr.

Iran openly supports the Houthis politically but rejects accusations that it is arming the group. The US and its allies portray the Houthis as an Iranian proxy, but the group is a homegrown movement. The Houthis are Zaydi Shia, and Zaydi Imams ruled the area of north Yemen that the Houthis now control for over a thousand years until 1962.

A ceasefire in Yemen has been holding relatively well for over two months. During that time, there has been some fighting on the ground, but no Saudi coalition airstrikes have been recorded. A war powers resolution introduced in the House that calls for an end to US support for the Saudi-led coalition has gained momentum and now has 103 cosponsors.