In a letter to President of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Zhang Yesui on Thursday, Iran's Permanent Representative to the UN Mohammad Khazayee said initial investigations showed that the ship intercepted by the Yemeni government does not belong to the Islamic Republic.
The ship had been registered in a European country and sailed under the flag of Panama, Khazayee said, adding that none of the vessel's personnel were Iranian.
Referring to similar accusations leveled against Iran by Yemen, a number of which were later rejected by Yemeni officials, Khazayee said no proof about the latest allegation has yet been presented.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast categorically denied the accusations about arms shipment to Yemen as baseless, and reiterated that Tehran respects the regional stability and security.
Mehman-Parast's remarks came after several Yemeni officials, including the country's 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 Yemen's Houthi Community in the North of the country or as other Yemeni officials claimed for rebels in Somalia fighting the central government.
"We have announced several times that we prioritize the region's stability and security, and underline the rights and national sovereignty of (other) countries," the Iranian diplomat said.
Last week, Yemen's 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 officials' allegations, saying that Iran attaches importance to maintaining security and stability of regional countries, specially Yemen.
