U.S. Missile Allegations: Iran to lodge complaint with UN

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Iran would refer the “baseless’’ U.S. accusations of arms smuggling to Yemen’s Houthis to the United Nations, Financial Tribune reported on Monday.

“The Iranian side will complain to the UN about U.S. allegations about arms transfers to Yemen,’’ Zarif said.

On Thursday, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley appeared standing before parts of a ballistic missile that she claimed Iran delivered to Houthis, which was fired at Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh airport in November.

Zarif dismissed the U.S. claims as an attempt to cover up its role in the war crimes in Yemeni’s civil war and to distract public attention away from its widely-criticised move to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

“Obviously, Haley’s remarks were not backed up by evidence and failed to even convince other Western states,’’ Zarif said.

Tehran has denied arming Iranian-allied Shiite Houthis against the Saudi-led coalition which seeks to restore President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who was ousted by Houthis in Sept. 2014.

The Saudi-led coalition has recently blamed Iran for a recent Yemeni missile strike on Riyadh, which Iran dismissed categorically.