IRAN DENIES COMPLICITY IN ATTACKS

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard denied accusations Tehran was behind a Houthi rebel attack on two Saudi oil tankers in June.

Al Arabiya news agency cited an article published by Iran’s Fars news agency, which quoted former Guard general Nasser Shabani saying: “We asked the Yemenis to attack the two Saudi oil tankers, so they did it.”

The original quote, according to Fars, said: “Media outlets induced an image as if we had asked the Yemenis to strike two Saudi warships and they did that.”

However, the retired general went on to refer to the Houthis and other Iran operatives in the region, saying: “The spiritual children of the revolution in the region have grown their capabilities to the levels that they can plan such operations.”

Fars later took down the article and issued a statement yesterday saying the commander had been misquoted. The news agency issued a correction, republished the article including the full quote and issued an apology over the statements.

Gen Shabani also said the Houthis in Yemen and Lebanese Hezbollah militias “represented Iran’s depth in the region”.

Guard spokesman Gen Ramezan Sharif said Gen Shabani was a retired officer and served in the military during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in June that parts of missiles fired at Saudi Arabia came from Iran.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has resumed shipping in the Bab Al Mandeb days after halting maritime activity there.

Last month, Saudi Arabia submitted a memorandum of protests to the UN against repeated infringements and violations by Iranian boats and vessels in restricted areas of the Arabian Gulf.