Iran dismisses Saudi accusations as irresponsible, provocative

The Iranian government on Monday described the statement by the Saudi-led coalition accusing Iran of involvement in the Yemen conflict as irresponsible and provocative.

Tehran insisted that the Houthi rebels in Yemen act independently, and that any attacks on Saudi Arabia only come as a reaction by Yemenis to Saudi aggression, Press TV reported.

The coalition's allegations are "baseless, irresponsible, damaging and provocative," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said in a statement.

Earlier on Monday, Saudi Arabia accused Iran of supplying Houthi rebels with ballistic missiles, one of which was used in an attack Saturday targeting the Saudi capital Riyadh.

A statement from the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen claimed that the missile fired at the international airport in Riyadh two days earlier was Iranian-made, and that this could be considered an "act of war."

It also stated that Saudi Arabia "reserves its right to respond to Iran in the appropriate time and manner, in accordance with international law and based upon the right of self-defence".

In response, Qasemi said: "The Saudis, who have failed to achieve their evil goals during long-term military aggression against Yemen, are making more problems for their defeated coalition with a clumsy psychological operation to make baseless and totally false accusations.

"Our friendly advice to them is to stop playing the blame game and levelling accusations against others, and rather halt their attacks on the innocent and defenceless people of Yemen as soon as possible, and pave the way for Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue and peace-making in that country," he added.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is in charge of Tehran's missile programme, on Sunday denied the possibility of having transferred missiles to Yemen

--IANS

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