Yemen Rejects Weapons Smuggling Claims by UK, Stresses Self-Sufficiency
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Deputy Minister of Information for the Yemeni Salvation Government Fahmi Al-Yousefi dismissed "nonsense" accusations of Iranian weapons being smuggling to the Ansarullah group of Yemen, stating that the country has achieved self-sufficiency in producing weapons.
In an interview with Sputnik radio, al-Yousefi dismissed the statements by the British navy and Muammar al-Iryani, Yemeni information minister in the ousted government of Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, and called the allegations an attempt to obstruct dialogue and escalate tensions in the region.
He added that they were part of a broader plot by Britain and the West.
He questioned the credibility of the British navy's claim of seizing Iranian weapons from a smuggling boat in international waters, suggesting that Britain's presence in the Yemeni coasts of the Red Sea is illegal.
Al-Yousefi went on to say that the accusations were not surprising as Ansarullah has achieved self-sufficiency in weapons and emphasized that their priority is obtaining food, medicine, and breaking the siege, rather than receiving weapons.
He also said the future of negotiations to extend the ceasefire and settlement with the other party is uncertain and preparing for a new military escalation is strongly likely in light of these developments.
The British navy had earlier claimed that it had seized Iranian weapons, including anti-tank guided missiles, from a smuggling boat in the Gulf of Oman. The alleged boat was spotted by a US intelligence agency drone and a French naval forces helicopter.
Nasser Kanani, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, dismissed the British navy's claims and said the main warmongering countries and the biggest exporters of weapons and equipment to critical zones in the world are “making false claims and spreading fake news” to mislead the global public opinion.
"The countries that have caused the deaths of (Yemeni) people and the destruction of Yemen by sending billions of dollars’ worth of weapons to the (Saudi-led) war coalition cannot exonerate themselves by accusing others," Kanani added.
Iran has repeatedly denied accusations by Western countries of smuggling weapons into Yemen and reiterated its support for a political resolution rather than a military one in the Arab country's conflict.
In collaboration with its Arab allies and receiving arms and logistical support from the US and other Western states, Saudi Arabia launched a devastating war in Yemen in March 2015. The objective was to crush the popular Ansarullah resistance movement that had taken over state affairs in the absence of a functioning government in Yemen and reinstall the Riyadh-friendly regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi. The Saudi-led coalition failed to achieve any of its goals, and the conflict has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis, creating the world's most severe humanitarian crisis.
