Iranian Ambassador to the UN Mohammad Khazaei dismissed Westˈs accusations about Tehran's dispatching of weapons to Yemen and Somalia as baseless and politically motivated propaganda, IRNA reports.
He made the remarks in two separate letters to the rotating president of the UN Security Council on Thursday.
"These accusations are baseless, undocumented and unfounded, primary inspections of the intercepted ship in the Yemeni international waters showed that it has been carrying the flag of Panama and in the meantime, none of its crew were Iranian citizens."
Pointing to Tehran's readiness to cooperate with the UN Security Council for clarifying the issue, Khazaei added that Tehran expects this UN body to probe such claims and correct and compensate for its unjust approach in accusing Iran.
Additionally, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast categorically have also denied the accusations about arms shipment to Yemen as baseless, and reiterated that Tehran respects the regional stability and security.
Mehman-Parastˈs remarks came after several Yemeni officials, including the countryˈs Interior Minister Abdel-Qader Kahtan, and the Saudi-led Yemeni media claimed that an Iranian ship seized by the Yemeni military contained weapons destined for Yemenˈs Houthi Community in the North of the country or as other Yemeni officials claimed for rebels in Somalia fighting the central government.
ˈWe have announced several times that we prioritize the regionˈs stability and security, and underline the rights and national sovereignty of (other) countries,ˈ the Iranian diplomat said.
Last week, Yemenˈs President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi accused Iran of smuggling arms into the Arab country. The Yemeni government asked the United Nations to probe a seized ship it claims contained Iran-made weapons.
Iranian officials on different occasions have strongly refuted Yemeni officialsˈ allegations, saying that Iran attaches importance to maintaining security and stability of regional countries, especially Yemen.
Last week, a Yemeni daily disclosed that the arms cargo confiscated off the countryˈs coasts was headed for the rebel groups in Syria, dismissing the western media allegations that the weapons cargo was sent to the Yemeni rebels by Iran.
Yemenˈs Aloulaye daily quoted informed sources as saying that the shipment of weapons and explosives which was intercepted off Yemenˈs coasts was sent from Ukraine and planned to be transferred to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel group.
The report said the ship started its voyage from Ukraine and was en route to Syria when it entered Yemenˈs water.
The sources added on the condition of anonymity that the ship has entered Yemeni waters after receiving an official permission from a government department in Yemen and without the knowledge of the countryˈs Defense Ministry which is the sole authority in charge of such permissions.