DUBAI, February 20. /TASS/. Amir Saeid Iravani, ambassador and permanent representative of the Islamic Republic to the United Nations, has sent a letter to the head of the UN Security Council, refuting accusations by the US that Tehran is purportedly involved in weapon supplies to the Yemen-based Houthi rebels from the Ansar Allah movement.

"Iran categorically rejects these baseless allegations, viewing them as a pretext used by the United States to justify and legitimize its illegal actions and military aggression against Yemen," Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted the diplomat as saying. According to Iravani, "Iran consistently advocates for the peaceful resolution of the Yemen crisis through diplomatic channels" and has not engaged in any activities contradicting the resolutions of the UN Security Council "including the sale or transfer of arms or weaponry systems."

According to Mehr, the Iranian envoy drafted the document following US accusations voiced at the February 14 UN Security Council session.

After the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis warned that they would launch strikes on Israeli territory while barring ships associated with the Jewish state from passing through the waters of the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until Tel Aviv ceased its military operation against Palestinian radical group Hamas in the embattled enclave. Since last November, the Houthis have attacked dozens of civilian vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. In January, at a special briefing for journalists, a high-ranking US official said that in the opinion of the US administration, Iran had played a certain role in the movement’s attacks on vessels in the Red Sea.