A series of Iran’s top officials have denounced the latest US claims at the UN over Iranian intervention in Yemen’s civil war.
On Monday, in the second presentation in six weeks, US Ambassador Nikki Haley presented purported evidence of Iran’s supply of missiles to Yemen’s Ansar Allah (Houthi) insurgency, including the remnants of munitions.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hit back on Twitter:
In the fake news department, Trump & Co. attempt to create an Iranphobic narrative at the UN Security Council—through wining and dining and fake “evidence” provided by a warring neighbor—that would pass muster with only the same desperate neighbor & its accomplices in war crimes.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 29, 2018
Zarif later tried to refute Haley’s display of the missile fragments:
A while ago US showed a Saudi-supplied Iranian missile intact. They must've been told a missile destroyed by a Patriot does not land fully assembled. So now US shows UNSC missile fragments w/ Iranian Standard Institute logo, as on our foodstuffs. Try fabricating "evidence" again. pic.twitter.com/0wBuKzezuj
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 30, 2018
The US and its allies maintain that Iran supplied missiles which were used by the Houthis in attacks on Saudi Arabia, including an attempt to hit Riyadh International Airport.
A Saudi-led coalition intervened in the conflict in March 2015 with air attacks, support of pro-Government ground forces, and a blockade on Houthi areas. Thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict, while millions are at risk from shortages of food and supplies.
The Houthis continue to hold the Yemeni capital Sana’a and much of the country. The Riyadh-backed Government is based in the southern port city of Aden.
Velayati Chides US “Puppetry”
The Supreme Leader’s top aide, Ali Akbar Velayati, reacted to the UN presentation with the insistence that the US will never achieve any success in its “puppetry”: “They directly accuse Iran of meddling in Yemen while they are indirectly denying the bravery, resistance and self-sacrifice of the Yemeni nation.”
Speaking on State broadcaster IRIB, Velayati said the Yemeni people have so far succeeded in defeating the Saudi-led coalition, leading to the US accusations. He warned, “If Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates continue their unwise policy, Yemen will turn into a quagmire, like Vietnam, for the US.”
The Houthi attempts to hit Saudi targets have fuelled an initiative by European leaders for negotiations over Iran’s ballistic missile testing and development. Tehran has insisted that the program is not up for discussion.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Monday:
The current efforts follow previous shows by the US and its envoy to the UN. It comes after the US suffered repeated failures in its foreign policy. This is Washington’s new propaganda and part of a new psychological warfare against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
