Iran Rejects France’s Accusation It Supplies Arms to Yemen

In a Thursday statement, Qassemi categorically rejected the latest allegations raised by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian about Iran’s supply of weapons to Yemen and said, “The claim is absurd and a big lie.”

He further noted that France’s rehashing of the claims made by certain regional and trans-regional states will have no impact on Iran’s resolve to enlighten the world’s public opinion about “one of the worst humanitarian crises and war crimes in the contemporary era and the oppression of the innocent and defenceless people of Yemen.”

Qassemi said it is natural for those who export arms to Saudi Arabia to describe the Saudi jet fighters’ relentless and daily attacks on the oppressed and innocent nation of Yemen as an instance of self-defence because the Yemen war, the massacre of Yemenis and the destruction of the country’s infrastructures have funneled huge profits to their economies.”

He underlined that the people of the countries selling weapons to Saudi Arabia should be aware that their governments are playing a role in the emergence of the worst humanitarian crises in the contemporary history as well as the daily war crimes against Yemenis and must be held accountable for them.

Qassemi referred the French officials to the teachings of French thinkers and intellectuals from the past and today, and urged them to learn from far or recent past and get closer to some extent to the concepts of humanity, equality and human rights regardless of their colour, race and nationality.

He also noted that equipping the aggressors, playing a blame game and levelling accusations against others will lead to nowhere and “the vigilant souls across the world will finally judge [all decisions and measures]”.

Qassemi’s remarks came after the French foreign minister on Wednesday accused Iran of supplying weapons to Yemeni forces who launch retaliatory attacks against Saudi Arabia over its war on Yemen.

Le Drian said Saudi Arabia “feels regularly attacked by Yemeni troops, who are supplied with arms by Tehran.”

France, along with the United States and the UK, has been a major arms suppliers for Saudi Arabia which began its war on Yemen in 2015.

Iran has repeatedly denied arming the Yemeni forces, describing as fabricated the evidence shown by the US and Saudi Arabia.