Iran Accuses the U.S. of Covering Up Crimes in Yemen Led by Saudi Arabia

Following a critical resolution against Iran at the United Nations and statements from the U.S. representative to the organization against the Islamic Republic and Russia, Iran on Tuesday accused the United States of 'covering up crimes in Yemen led by Saudi Arabia.' On Monday, March 7, Russia vetoed a draft resolution proposed by Britain to extend the arms embargo on Yemen, which expressed concern over violations of these sanctions by Iran. The draft resolution referenced a report by UN experts stating that Iran had not taken necessary actions to prevent the shipment of weapons to Yemen in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2216. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations presented remnants of a missile as 'undeniable evidence' to support the claim that a missile fired by Houthi forces in November into Saudi Arabia was made in Iran. According to this U.S. official, the missile bore the emblem of the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group and its specifications matched those of Iranian missiles. In response to the remarks of U.S. representative Nikki Haley, Mohammad Javad Zarif announced that a complaint regarding what he termed 'the new U.S. accusation' against Iran would be submitted to the United Nations. Following the veto of the resolution to extend the arms embargo on Yemen and criticism of Iran's role by Russia, Nikki Haley accused Russia on Monday of preventing accountability for Iran and endangering the entire region. Haley noted that Russia had previously 'repeatedly blocked resolutions against the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad' and stated: 'Today, Russia protected the terrorist-supporting regime of Iran.' In response to the U.S. representative's stance, Iran's mission to the United Nations described this position as 'repetitive claims and tedious displays of Iranophobia' in a statement published on Tuesday, March 8, by the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA). The statement emphasized that Iran has repeatedly denied sending weapons to Yemen, stating: 'The U.S. intended to exploit the opportunity of extending the mission of the Yemen expert group to raise accusations against Iran in this procedural resolution to cover up the continuation of the war in Yemen.' Bahram Qasemi, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, reiterated on Monday: 'We have no weapons shipments to Yemen.' On Tuesday, Abbas Araghchi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, referred to the 'failure of the anti-Iran resolution' and stated that 'the report of the Yemen sanctions committee at the Security Council was completely biased.' According to Araghchi, 'the bias of these accusations was clearly evident in the way the Yemen sanctions committee's expert report was drafted.' On Friday, January 22, the Associated Press reported, citing sections of a report prepared by UN experts and based on diplomatic statements, that Iran had provided missiles and unmanned military aircraft to its supported Houthi fighters in Yemen, in violation of UN sanctions. Araghchi's remarks refer to this report.