Iran summons Swiss envoy to protest US missile claims

Iran has summoned the Swiss ambassador to Tehran to hand him a protest note over the United States’ recent claims that missiles fired at Saudi Arabia from Yemen were of Iranian origin.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Tuesday that the Islamic Republic’s “strong and official protest at US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley’s injudicious and baseless allegations was conveyed” to the Swiss envoy, whose country represents US interests in Iran.

The envoy, he said, was handed a letter of protest regarding Haley’s “provocative” and “irresponsible” remarks, which had been based on “fake evidence.”

The US is violating UN Security Council resolutions through its direct involvement in the killing of innocent Yemeni people and selling weapons worth billions of dollar to Saudi Arabia, but instead of responding to the international community, it accuses other countries in an act of deception, Qassemi said.

“However, such US ploys have no credibility for the people of the region and world,” he added.

The Swiss embassy represents US interests in Tehran, where Washington has had no diplomatic mission since 1980.

On Thursday, Haley displayed debris purportedly from a ballistic missile that had been fired from Yemen at the King Khalid International Airport near Riyadh on November 4.

She claimed that the debris was “concrete evidence” that Iran was providing missiles to Yemen.

Tehran categorically rejected those accusations and said the so-called “evidence” presented by Haley had been “fabricated.”

Yemenis, too, said the missiles were domestically built.

A Saudi-led coalition, which includes the US, has been waging war on Yemen since 2015. Yemenis have been defending their country against the invaders including by launching retaliatory missile strikes on aggressor countries.