TEHRAN - The British navy claimed on Thursday that a boat carrying Iranian weaponry likely to Yemen had been apprehended off the coast of the Sea of Oman in a combined operation with the U.S., however the claim has been denied by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

Nasser Kanaani, the spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, issued a statement on Friday refuting the claim as false. 

He also asserted that the nations that provided weapons worth billions of dollars to an aggressor coalition, which has resulted in the deaths of people and the destruction of Yemen, could not be absolved of their transgressions by making allegations against others.

According to the Foreign Ministry website, the spokesman stated that the governments that have historically been the primary perpetrators of war propaganda and the largest arms suppliers to conflict-hit zones across the globe are now attempting to hoodwink public opinion by making untrue claims and disseminating lies.

“Instead of spreading false information and denying their responsibilities for the imposed war against the defenseless and oppressed Yemeni people,” Kanaani remarked, “such nations had better put an end to their opportunistic and profit-seeking approaches toward the oppressive war in Yemen.”

The British warship HMS Lancaster’s crew allegedly stopped an Iranian boat from returning to Iranian territorial seas on February 23 by intercepting its personnel when it was going south from Iran at high speed during the night.

The seizure occurred along a path that has traditionally been used to carry weapons into Yemen, according to the United States Fifth Fleet, which has its base in Bahrain.

Iran has repeatedly refuted Western allegations that it is shipping guns to Yemen, reiterating its advocacy for a diplomatic rather than a military solution to the crisis. 

Additionally, Kanaani denied in a statement on Thursday that the French naval forces’ alleged seizure of thousands of Iranian-supplied guns and ammunition en route to Yemen in January was driven by political reasons.