Iran rejects U.S. claim of sending military shipment to Yemen

Alsharq Tribune-AFP 

Iran on Thursday denied having sent a military shipment to Yemen.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei dismissed as "baseless and being part of the anti-Iran propaganda campaign" the Wednesday claim by the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) that a military group, known as the Yemeni National Resistance Forces (NRF), had seized a "massive" Iranian weapons shipment bound for the Yemen-based Houthi.

"Such claims, which are made every now and then by the United States, are in line with justifying U.S. military presence in West Asia and serve as a pretext for the United States and Israel to continue their tension-creating and destabilizing behaviors in the region," he said, pointing out the U.S. "direct accountability for Israel's continued crimes and warmongering" against Palestinians and in other countries in the region.

Condemning Israel's "genocide in Gaza and the West Bank" and its "military aggression" targeting Syria and Lebanon -- backed by the United States with lethal weapons and "all-out political and propaganda support," Baghaei said the claim "is nothing but a hypocritical bid to divert public opinion from the region's main issues that are Israel's aggressions and crimes against regional people and the U.S. destructive interventions, which compromise security in the region."

The CENTCOM made the accusation in a post on social platform X, claiming the NRF forces "seized over 750 tons of munitions and hardware to include hundreds of advanced cruise, anti-ship, and anti-aircraft missiles, warheads and seekers, components as well as hundreds of drone engines, air defense equipment, radar systems, and communications equipment."