TEHRAN – The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday strongly denied claims that Tehran supplies weapons to Yemeni Houthis.

“We have no arms link with Yemen,” ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said, according to ISNA.

The remarks by the spokesman came after Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted an "Iranian-manufactured" missile by Yemeni forces over Riyadh on Tuesday. 

The U.S. ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, also argued the strike bore "all the hallmarks of previous attacks using Iranian-provided weapons".

Nikki said Washington would be discussing options for Security Council action against Tehran, although that immediately drew strong reservations from Moscow.
 
“The accusation that Iran gives weapons to various groups is rejected and we strongly deny it,” Qassemi said. “Yemen is in a blockade and such possibility does not exist anyway.”

Weapons used by the rebels “to defend against violation and non-stop attacks” are leftovers of previous governments, Qassemi explained.

He added, “There isn’t even the possibility of sending humanitarian aid.”

Last Thursday, Haley also displayed the debris of a missile at a military base in Washington in which she claimed was made in Iran and fired by Houthis at an airport near Riyadh last month.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that Tehran will soon file a complaint to the UN Security Council against the U.S. over claims that Iran has supplied missiles to Houthis.

In a tweet last week, Zarif also said, “While Iran has been calling for ceasefire, aid and dialogue in Yemen from day 1, U.S. has sold weapons enabling its allies to kill civilians and impose famine. No amount of alternative facts or alternative evidence covers up U.S. complicity in war crimes.”

The U.S. is the chief supplier of weapons to Saudi Arabia, which started a war on Yemen in March 2015. The tragedies resulting from the Saudi war on Yemen have been described as war crimes by certain international bodies. According to the United Nations, the war has also led to the starvation of millions of people in Yemen and spread of diseases.