Iran United Nations Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee denied in an officials letter all allegations accusing Tehran of supplying military equipment to Yemen.
On January 28th 2013, the Yemeni authorities confirmed in an official statement it seized an illegal shipment of weapons which it said bore links to Iran. Hidden in the cargo hull was found, surface to air missiles, C4 military-grade explosives, 122-millimeter shells, rocket-propelled grenades and bomb-making equipment, including electronic circuits, remote triggers and other hand-held explosives. Yemen soon established the surface-to-air missiles were Iranian-made Misagh-2, as most of the other weapons found on board of the ship.
Within days of the discovery, western powers, among which France and the United States of America, condemned Iran for its meddling within Yemeni affairs, warning they would take the matter to the United Nations Security Council to seek sanctions.
After months of growing tensions in Yemen against Iran with more state officials accusing Tehran of spying and arming militias both north and south of the country in a bid to destabilize the region and further its political agenda, Iran fought back, denying all wrong-doings.
Alleging a western conspiracy against Iran Islamic Republic, Iranian officials maintained their support of Yemen and their desire to see the poorest nation of the Arabian Peninsula finds its footing again after two years of political and economic unrest.
In regards to the alleged Iranian weapon cargo, Ambassador Khazaee wrote "There is no evidence that can prove any of this. The seized ship does not belong to Iran, it was registered in a European country, and was sailing under Panama flag.'
In reference to further claims Iran is as well arming Somalia, Khazaae said"Iran has never sent any weapons to Somalia, all of this is baseless allegations. Unfortunately, these charges towards Iran were expressed by a group related to the UN, without Iran's opinion, and it was later released by some media outlets."