Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi lashed out at British Member of Parliament Tobias Ellwood for accusing Iran of delivering arms to Yemen, saying Britain itself is a main supplier of weaponry for the Saudi-led military campaign against Yemeni civilians.
"Instead of making such bogus allegations and referring to unfounded reports, the British official had better have an explanation for such anti-human conduct [by the British government] and give an answer to the questions of the House of Commons' members about the widespread and undeniable use of British-made … weapons in the killing of civilians, including the innocent Yemeni women and children," Qasemi was quoted as saying on Thursday by Tasnim News Agency.
His comments came after Ellwood, Britain's Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Minister for the Middle East and Africa, was interviewed by Asharq Al-Awsat.
"We are worried about Iran arming Houthis as we have received reports implying that Iran has transferred arms to Yemen, thus violating UN Security Resolution 2216, which forbids Iran from exporting weapons."
The Iranian spokesman said while Saudi Arabia is directly accountable for spearheading a military coalition killing Yemeni children, officials in Britain—one of the two main countries arming the coalition—should address the concerns of the world public opinion.
Qasemi underlined that London should give an explanation for providing arms to aggressors attacking Yemen indiscriminately, although the European Parliament has placed an arms embargo against Saudi Arabia to protest against the heavy bombing campaign in Yemen.
In February, the MEPs voted by a large majority for an EU-wide ban on arms sales to the Saudi regime, citing the "disastrous humanitarian situation" as a result of "Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen".
Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies have been launching deadly airstrikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to fugitive president Abd-Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
