Iran Dismisses UK Report on Arms Confiscation
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Foreign Ministry of Iran refuted the allegations made by the British navy that a boat smuggling Iranian weapons has been seized off the coast of the Sea of Oman in a joint operation with the US.
In a statement on Friday, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani rejected the 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 spokesman said those countries that have been the main culprits behind war-mongering throughout history and are the biggest arms suppliers to crisis zones of the world, are now trying to mislead the world public opinion through making false allegations and spreading lies, the Foreign Ministry’s website reported.
Kanaani noted that such governments had better end their opportunistic and profiteering policies toward the oppressive war in Yamen instead of giving misleading information and dodging their responsibility for this imposed war against the defenseless and oppressed Yemeni people.
Britain’s Royal Navy claimed on Thursday that an Iranian boat, traveling south from Iran at high speed during the hours of darkness, was intercepted by forces from British frigate HMS Lancaster before it could navigate back to Iranian territorial waters on February 23.
According to the Bahrain-based United States Fifth Fleet, the seizure took place along a route historically used to smuggle weapons to Yemen.
Iran has on several occasions dismissed Western claims of smuggling arms to Yemen, reaffirming its support for a political solution not a military one to the conflict in the Arab country.