FNA - Tehran strongly rejected the recent claims made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about Iran�s negative role in Yemen, asserting that Washington�s �blame game� is meant to cover up the Saudi-Emirati crimes in the war-ravaged country.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi dismissed US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo�s claims of Tehran�s negative role in the implementation of a ceasefire deal between Yemen�s warring sides in the port city of Hudaydah.

The Iranian diplomat said that the US secretary of state�s accusations were aimed at covering the crimes being committed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the war on Yemen and the pair�s attempts to hinder the Stockholm agreement.

The Iranian spokesperson further said reports indicate cooperation between the Ansarullah-led government, known as the National Salvation Government of the Republic of Yemen, and the United Nations special envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths, �their readiness to implement the Stockholm agreement and , at the same time, the opposite side�s (bid) to create obstacles� in the implementation process.

Moussavi said the Islamic Republic has played a positive role in efforts that led to the conclusion of the Stockholm agreement.

Speaking at an event in Washington hosted by The Hill newspaper on Monday, Pompeo claimed that Iran is directing Yemen�s Houthi Ansarullah fighters to renege on the commitments they made in Stockholm last December.

The Houthis �continue to refuse to comply with the agreements that they signed up for in Stockholm, Sweden, they refuse to withdraw from the port of Hudaydah... this is because Iran has chosen to direct them to do that,� Pompeo said.

In December 2018, representatives from the Houthi Ansarullah movement and the Riyadh-sponsored government of ex-president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, reached the truce deal during UN-mediated peace talks in Sweden.

Saudi Arabia and its allies, including the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Sudan, launched a brutal war against Yemen in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall Yemen�s former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

The aggression initially consisted of a bombing campaign but was later coupled with a naval blockade and the deployment of ground forces to Yemen. Around 20,000 people have died since the war began, says Yemen�s Health Ministry.

The Saudi-led war has also taken a heavy toll on the country�s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The United Nations (UN) has said that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger.

Despite Riyadh's claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

According to several reports, the Saudi-led air campaign against Yemen has driven the impoverished country towards humanitarian disaster, as Saudi Arabia's deadly campaign prevented the patients from travelling abroad for treatment and blocked the entry of medicine into the war-torn country.