Iran's mission to the UN rejected US allegations that Tehran used a recent flight to Yemen to transfer military personnel and equipment to the Houthi group, calling them "entirely baseless."
In a statement issued Monday after a Security Council meeting on Yemen, Iran's UN mission defended its ties with Yemen's Houthi authorities, also known as Ansarallah.
"Ansarallah represents a significant segment of the Yemeni people, and Iran recognizes the Sana'a authorities as their legitimate representatives," the mission said.
Iran's engagement with the Sana'a authorities is "consistent with relevant Security Council resolutions and aimed at supporting a Yemeni-led process towards a unified Yemen while preserving the country's sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity, it added.
"The UN has repeatedly benefited from this engagement in advancing the Yemeni peace process.
"The U.S. allegation at today's Security Council meeting that Iran exploited the travel of the Yemeni delegation attending the funeral of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Ali Khamenei) to transfer military equipment is entirely baseless," the mission said, adding that it is a "fabricated accusation" intended to mislead the Council.
The statement came after US deputy representative to the UN Tammy Bruce told the Council on Monday that an Iranian flight arriving in Houthi-controlled Sanaa on July 3 had transported members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including drone and missile experts.
"The purpose of this flight was to ferry IRGC personnel, including drone and missile experts, in support of Houthi terrorism—under the guise of transporting Houthi officials to the late-Supreme Leader's funeral," Bruce said.
She argued that such support enables the Houthis "to terrorize the Yemeni people and threaten freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways."
