TEHRAN - A state-owned television channel quoted Iranian sources on Tuesday as denying a report from Yemen that a boatload of weapons from Iran had been seized in the Red Sea off the Yemeni coast.
"This is a media lie," Tehran's Arabic-language Al-Alam television reported, quoting unnamed sources who denied an Iranian ship had been seized.
Sanaa accuses Shiite Iran of backing the rebels, who are also known as Huthis after their late commander. The rebels deny the charge.
Last week Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh accused the Huthis of taking money from Iranians - but not the government.
"Their finances come from certain Iranian dignitaries... but we do not accuse the government," Saleh said, citing confessions of rebels captured during the fighting.
On August 11 the armed forces launched Operation Scorched Earth, aimed at crushing the Zaidi rebels in their Saada region stronghold.
Hundreds of people have been killed or wounded in the clashes, and tens of thousands have been forced to flee their homes, resulting in a humanitarian crisis complicated by a dire shortage of food and other basic necessities.
The Zaidis complain of widespread persecution by the government.
Biden hails US troops 'success' in Iraq