Iran rejects UK claims of involvement in attacks on vessels
Iran rejected “unfounded” allegations made by the UK government over Tehran’s role in resistance groups’ attacks against Israel and US targets in the region.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that the British government tries to achieve its special political goals by making such allegations. He said that London is trying to distort the realities of the region.
A British government spokesperson on Monday claimed that Iran bears responsibility for the actions of the resistance groups in the region.
“As we’ve previously stated, Iran has long provided military and political support to Houthi militants and it bears responsibility for the actions of its proxies and partners,” the British spokesperson said in a statement.
Britain also condemned attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea by Yemeni forces, saying that the UK is committed to ensuring the safety of shipping in the region.
Three commercial vessels came under attack in international waters in the southern Red Sea on Sunday, in attacks claimed by Yemeni forces. Yemen said it had launched drone and missile attacks against two Israeli ships.
Kanaani underlined that the resistance groups do not receive orders from Tehran. He said that the resistance groups decide and act based on their own principles, priorities, and interests of their countries.
Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations also strongly condemned the “baseless” accusations leveled at Tehran by a British minister concerning the Middle East crisis, saying the UK’s 1917 Balfour Declaration caused the suffering of the Palestinian nation.
In letters sent to the UN chief and the Security Council’s president on Tuesday, Amir Saeid Iravani firmly rejected “baseless” claims by British Minister of State for the Middle East Tariq Ahmad at the United Nations Security Council’s Wednesday meeting on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question.”
The Iranian envoy said that during the meeting, the UK minister overlooked “his own country’s responsibility in the current situation in the Middle East and the UK’s destabilizing policies, attempted to shift blame onto the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
“Undoubtedly, the United Kingdom has certainly played a pivotal role in the prolonged suffering and distress endured by the Palestinian people. The ominous roots of this plight can be traced back to the Balfour Declaration, signaling the commencement of nearly a century of hardship for the Palestinians,” he stated, referring to the document that set the stage for the occupation of Palestine.
Iravani also noted that the UK’s “consistent and unwavering support for Israeli atrocities and genocidal aggression against the Palestinian people and regional countries markedly diminishes its moral authority to license judgment on the intentions and policies of others.”
In his address to the Security Council, Ahmad alleged that Iran “poses an unacceptable threat to the region through its destabilizing activity and long-term support for its proxies and partners.”