Iran supplying weapons to Yemen's Huthi rebels: France FM

Le Drian's comments came days before an official visit to France by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

He denied that his country has supplied missiles to the Yemeni Houthi militants who target Saudi Arabia's inner posts.

"Americans are pushing for harder policies towards the Islamic Republic of Iran and we need to strengthen our view towards the East, especially China and Russia", Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told ISNA news agency, according to Reuters. One of the missiles caused the war's first casualties in the Saudi capital Riyadh when falling debris struck a home and killed an Egyptian man and injured two others.

Iran has repeatedly denied giving missiles to the Houthis.

"(He) may leverage the recent Houthi missile attacks to strengthen his narrative that Iran's encroachment is undermining regional stability and that a more concerted worldwide effort is needed to contain Iran".

This criminal aggression by the Tehran-backed Houthi militias proves the continued involvement of the Iranian regime in supporting the insurgents in clear violation of UN Resolutions 2216 and 2231, he said.

Last year, when the Houthis fired missiles at Riyadh that were intercepted, the coalition responded by shutting Yemen's airports and ports.

In a recent statement, Amnesty International said that U.S. and United Kingdom arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen made a "mockery" of global arms treaties and has resulted in "enormous harm" to civilians, agencies reported.

Qassemi also rejected the claims on the provision of Yemenis with missiles and said, "By leveling baseless and imaginary accusations without evidence against others, the Saudis are trying to cover up their inability and consecutive defeats they have suffered ... in the war against Yemeni people despite possessing ... a collection of advanced weapons and multi-billion-dollar arms purchases".

This prompted the Saudi-led coalition to intervene militarily on March 26, 2015.

The policy statements from Washington, the brand new regiment of sanctions and the appointment of incoming national security adviser, John Bolton - a foreign policy radical, who unequivocally supports wars with Iran and North Korea, indicates the Trump administration's readiness to take on Tehran.

Saudi Arabia, which has been blamed for most civilian casualties in Yemen, is infamous for what human rights groups call "blackmailing" the United Nations to keep silent on its atrocities in Yemen.