Iran has categorically dismissed as “sheer lies” allegations of weapons and ammunition delivery to Yemen.
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“Claims about the dispatch of weapons from the Islamic Republic of Iran to Yemen are completely fabricated and sheer lies,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said on Tuesday.
“Such claims can never justify the military attack on Yemen,” she added.
She also made a reference to a recent aviation agreement between Iran and Yemen, noting that it only includes commercial and civil aviation activities. The official added that the Islamic Republic has so far dispatched consignments of medical aid and health products to the Arab country.
Yemen's Civil Aviation and Meteorology Authority (CAMA) and Iran's Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) signed an agreement in Tehran on March 1 on the expansion of air transport cooperation.
Meanwhile, Afkham pointed to the high number of casualties and extensive damage to civilian properties in Yemen following the Saudi-led air strikes against the country and called on global aid bodies, particularly the International Committee of the Red Cross, to help innocent people in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia’s air campaign in Yemen started on March 26 in a bid to restore power to fugitive former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
Hadi stepped down in January and refused to reconsider the decision despite calls by Ansarullah revolutionaries of the Houthi movement.
He fled Aden to the Saudi capital of Riyadh after Ansarullah fighters advanced toward the southwestern Yemeni city, where he had sought to set up a rival power base, and where he withdrew his resignation.
Nearly 145 Yemenis have so far been killed in the Saudi-led bombardments.
This comes as Riyadh and its allies say they have imposed a blockade on Yemeni ports.
Iran’s humanitarian aid to Yemen
As the Saudi-led warplanes continue to pound Yemen for the sixth day, Iran sent the fifth consignment of its humanitarian aid to Sana’a.
Head of a relief aid unit of the Iranian Red Crescent Society Nasser Charkhsaz told reporters that Iran dispatched 19 tonnes of medicine and medical equipment as well as two tonnes of foodstuff to the Yemeni people on Tuesday.
He added that Tehran had previously dispatched 50 tonnes of medical aid and foodstuff to Sana’a.
/SR
