TEHRAN - Iran has rejected the US accusations that it was "transferring weaponry" to the Yemen-based Houthis, enabling them to carry out attacks on ships in the Red Sea and elsewhere, the official news agency IRNA reported on Thursday.

Iran's UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani made the remarks in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and President of the UN Security Council for May 2024 Pedro Comissario Afonso, in response to the remarks made on Monday by US Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Robert Wood at a Security Council meeting on the situation of Yemen.

Wood told the meeting that there was extensive evidence that Iran was providing "advanced weapons, including ballistic and cruise missiles, to the Houthis in violation of UN sanctions".

Iravani regretted that the US representative once again used the Security Council's platform to, by spreading such disinformation against Iran, safeguard America's "short-sighted political interests and justify and legitimize its illegal action and constant military aggression against Yemen's sovereignty and territorial integrity".

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He added that Iran strongly rejected such "baseless claims", stressing that his country was committed to the Security Council resolutions on Yemen and had not carried out any activity in contradiction with them.

Iravani noted that Iran supported the peaceful resolution of Yemen's crisis through diplomatic channels and underscored its commitment to ensuring maritime safety and freedom of navigation.

Since last November, the Houthis have launched attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden as a gesture to show solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza under Israeli strikes.

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In response, the United States and Britain have conducted air and missile strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen since mid-January. However, instead of deterring the Houthi group or weakening its capabilities, these strikes appeared to have led to further escalation of attacks by the Houthis.