TEHRAN — Tehran has dismissed Washington’s “baseless” claim of seizing an Iranian ship carrying weapons to Yemen.

In a statement on Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said lying, leveling accusations and hatemongering are among the main elements of the U.S. foreign policy, especially in the current administration.

According to the Foreign Ministry website, Mousavi labeled U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as a “hatemonger”, saying Pompeo’s recent remarks stem from the same approach pursued by U.S. officials.

He said he Americans, who feel they have not succeeded in extending the UN arms embargo on Iran in the international arena and the Security Council, are trying to make up excuses for continuing their maximum pressure and advancing their evil goals by levelling accusations and spreading lies.

Mousavi further pointed to the five-year siege imposed by the United States and Saudi Arabia on the Yemeni people, thereby killing thousands as a result of starvation and malnutrition.

“Instead of being held accountable for their crimes in Yemen, the two regimes (the U.S. and Saudi Arabia) are trying not to fulfil their responsibilities and be held accountable for their inhumane behavior and crimes by accusing others and making baseless allegations,” he added.

Pompeo announced on Wednesday that the U.S. and partner forces seized a boat in June carrying Iranian weapons to Houthis in Yemen as he renewed his call for the UN Security Council to extend an arms embargo on Iran.

“The Security Council must extend the arms embargo on Iran to prevent further conflict in the region,” Pompeo told a State Department news conference. “No serious person can possibly believe Iran will use any weapon it receives for peaceful ends.”

Pompeo is leading a U.S. bid to extend the embargo due to expire in mid-October under the terms of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal from which the United States withdrew in 2018.

Meanwhile, the U.S. special representative for Iran said during a visit to Jerusalem late last month that “the military option [against Iran] is always on the table.” 

Brian Hook said that the White House was willing to take military action against Tehran to prevent the Islamic Republic from “developing nuclear weapons”.

In response, Mousavi said the United States’ threat of a military attack on Iran was a “moldy option” which has been sitting on the table gathering dust for years.

Tehran and Washington have been at loggerheads since May 8, 2018, when the U.S. withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on Iran.

MH/PA