Iran Refutes Allegation of Arms Shipment for Yemen

In a statement on Thursday, Nasser Kanaani rejected the media story that the French special forces have seized Iranian-supplied weapons and ammunition bound for Yemen in the Sea of Oman, saying such allegations are raised with political motives with the purpose of misinforming public opinion in the world.

He added that the countries that are brazenly helping the coalition of aggressors against Yemen under military dealings or by providing intelligence assistance and have a role in the inhumane blockade on the Yemeni people are directly culpable and “are in no position to level accusations against others.”

The spokesman also advised the countries that aid and abet the aggressors to immediately stop their opportunistic and self-interested policies amid the cruel war against Yemen instead of giving misinformation and abdicating responsibility for the war that has been imposed on the oppressed and defenseless people of Yemen.

His comments came after Western media outlets quoted unnamed officials as saying that the French naval forces have on January 15 seized thousands of assault rifles, machine guns and anti-tank missiles in the Gulf of Oman heading to Yemen’s Houthi forces, claiming that the arms had come from Iran.

The reports claim that the French warship has seized more than 3,000 assault rifles, at least a half million rounds of ammunition and over 20 antitank guided missiles on board the boat.

Saudi Arabia launched a devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration with its Arab allies and with arms, logistical, and political support from the US and other Western states. Simultaneous with the invasion, the aggressors and their supporters also put the entire impoverished country under an all-out land, aerial, and naval blockade.

The objective was to reinstall the Riyadh-friendly regime of former Yemeni president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, and crush Yemen’s Ansarullah popular resistance movement, which has been running state affairs in the absence of a functional government in Yemen.

While the Saudi-led coalition has failed to achieve any of its objectives, the war has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.