Iran’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Amir-Saeid Iravani, sent a formal letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the rotating Security Council president on July 14, categorically rejecting US claims that Yemen’s Houthi movement acts as an Iranian proxy, calling such assertions “completely baseless,” “misleading, politically motivated, and without any evidence.”
In the letter, Iravani stated that Sanaa’s authorities represent a significant portion of the Yemeni people and make their decisions independently in accordance with what they perceive to be in Yemen’s interests, pushing back against the long-held Western position that Tehran directs Houthi operations in the Red Sea and beyond.
In the same communication, Iran also rejected US claims of continued American commitment to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, alleging that Washington has committed 42 documented violations of the agreement since it was signed. Iravani declared that the United States is “the aggressor, not the victim,” accusing Washington of committing gross violations of the UN Charter by launching two wars of aggression alongside Israel.
The letter arrived on the same day the UN Security Council voted 13 to 0, with China and Russia abstaining, to extend the mandate of the Panel of Experts monitoring Houthi activity in the Red Sea through January 2027. The resolution continues international scrutiny of weapons flows and maritime threats in one of the world’s most strategically vital waterways.
Iran’s formal rebuttal underscores the deepening diplomatic confrontation between Tehran and Washington at the United Nations, even as the fragile ceasefire framework between the two countries remains under severe strain following renewed US strikes on Iranian targets last week.
