Iranian Ambassador: Yemeni espionage accusations ‘ridiculous’

Iranian Ambassador Zadeh denies assisting separatists and spies Yemen’s Iranian Ambassador in Sanaa Mahmoud Hassan Zadeh mocked official Yemeni accusations that his country was “meddling” in national affairs, denying links between Tehran and separatist movements in the country. Zadeh described the Yemeni call to root out suspected Iranian spy networks as a “ridiculous accusation,” denying any relationship between Iran and alleged surveillance equipment apprehended by Yemeni authorities in southern Yemen two months ago.
Ambassador Zadeh demanded Sanaa provide evidence for its accusations, accusing the Yemeni government of following misleading reports from Western governments looking to sour relations between Sanaa and Tehran.
Zadeh accused the Yemeni government of echoing accusations made by US Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein on Iran expanding in the country. “The American Ambassador is not the ruler of Yemen,” he claimed. “He cannot speak on its behalf.”
Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi criticised Iran during a diplomatic visit to the United States last September, accusing the country of meddling in Yemeni national affairs by supporting the Herak and Shiite Houthis separatist movements in the north and south of the country.
Referring to the “Mahan” ship seized on the country’s western coastline by Yemeni authorities in 2009, suspected of transferring weapons to Houthi rebels in the north, Zadeh claimed the vessel was being used to carry “commodities” and was forced to enter Yemeni waters after a storm. Yemen’s authorities arrested the crew and denied them diplomatic rights, the Ambassador added.
Yemen’s government has meanwhile echoed President Hadi’s sentiments, announcing the discovery of six alleged Iranian spy networks.
“What would Iran want to spy on in Yemen? Its nuclear reactor? Its economy? Or maybe its camps?” the diplomat mocked, at a press conference in Sanaa on Sunday.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry denied all charges.