Trump's allegations about Iran missiles in Yemen baseless: IRGC cmdr.

EghtesadOnline: The chief commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has dismissed as “baseless” the allegations leveled by US President Donald Trump about the Islamic Republic’s provision of missiles to Yemeni forces.

News ID: ۷۴۴۳۴۸

06 November 2017

“Trump’s claims about providing Yemen with missiles by the Islamic Republic of Iran are baseless,” Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari said on Sunday.

According to PressTV, he added that Iran had no means of transferring missiles to Yemen, noting that missiles used by Yemeni forces belonged to themselves and they had only increased their range.

The Yemeni army on Sunday confirmed that it had targeted Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh with a long distance Borkan H2 ballistic missile.

"Our Yemeni forces succeeded in launching a missile, a Borkan H2 long distance missile, at King Khalid International Airport in northeastern Riyadh, which was in response to the massacres committed by the US-Saudi coalition in Yemen,” said Colonel Aziz Rashed, a spokesman for the Yemeni army.

Saudi Arabia has also confirmed the launch, saying, however, that its air defense intercepted the missile, bringing it down north of the airport.

Responding to the attack, Trump immediately put some of the blame on Iran, saying, “A shot was just taken by Iran, in my opinion, at Saudi Arabia. And our system knocked it down.”

The IRGC commander rejected the US president’s claims and said, “Trump has made many wrong, baseless and false remarks and leveled many accusations against Iran and this is one of those accusations.”

After the Yemeni retaliatory attack, Saudi warplanes engaged in airstrikes on Yemen, hitting targets in the provinces of Sana’a and Sa’ada. The buildings of the Defense Ministry and the Interior Ministry and the National Security Council were hit during the latest Saudi strikes.

Meanwhile, Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami also rejected reports about Iran’s involvement in the missile attack on the Saudi airport.

“The enemy uses every opportunity to make allegations against Iran and we definitely reject this issue,” Hatami said.

Jafari’s stance on Hariri’s resignation

Elsewhere in his remarks, IRGC's chief commander also responded to allegations by Saad Hariri, who stepped down as Lebanon’s Prime Minister on Saturday, against Iran and Lebanon's Resistance Movement Hezbollah, saying Hariri was a stooge of Saudi Arabia.

The senior IRGC commander added that Hariri’s resignation was announced in Riyadh which “conveyed a clear message that this person is a puppet of Saudi Arabia and, in fact, took this step at the behest of the Zionist regime [of Israel] and Saudi Arabia.”

Hariri’s sudden departure was aimed at creating instability in Lebanon, he said.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi on Saturday said Hariri’s resignation and rehashing of the “unfounded and baseless” allegations regularly leveled by the Zionists, Saudis and the US were another scenario to create new tensions in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East.

“The sudden resignation of Mr. Hariri and its announcement in another country are not only regrettable and astonishing, but also indicative of him playing in a court that the ill-wishers in the region have laid out,” he said.

Qassemi said Iran believed that the resilient Lebanese people would thwart plots aimed at creating new tensions in their country and would “easily see this phase through as well.”

In a speech broadcast from Saudi Arabia on Saturday, Hariri announced his resignation, citing many reasons, including the security situation in Lebanon, for his sudden decision. Hariri announced his resignation following visits to Saudi Arabia.

He said that he sensed a plot being hatched against his life. Hariri also accused Iran and Hezbollah of meddling in the affairs of the Arab countries.