Iran denies reports of casualties in US airstrike on Yemen

Tehran, April 6 (IANS) No Iranian personnel were killed in a recent US airstrike on Yemen, according to Iran's Tasnim news agency, which is known to have close ties to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

The statement came in response to a claim made by Yemen's Minister of Information, Moammar al-Eryani, who posted on social media platform X on Friday that 70 members of the Houthi group -- including senior field commanders and Iranian experts from the IRGC -- were killed in a US strike on Tuesday.

The attack reportedly targeted a Houthi gathering in Al-Fazah, a coastal area in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, Xinhua news agency reported.

Tasnim dismissed the report as false, stating: "The released report about the martyrdom of Iranian forces in Yemen is not correct. Follow-ups by Tasnim's reporter indicate that the claim is false and no Iranian has been martyred in Yemen."

Tasnim added that the "false" news appeared to be in line with the anti-Iran psychological warfare aimed at escalating tensions in the West Asia region. It reiterated previous statements by Iranian officials asserting that Houthi forces are fighting the US and Israel independently.

Earlier on Saturday at least one person was killed and four others wounded when airstrikes by US forces hit a solar energy store and a house in Yemen's northern city of Saada, medics reported.

Medics described the casualty toll as preliminary, adding that civil defence teams were working to extinguish fires and search for victims at the targeted sites in the Hafsin area of western Saada city, the capital of the namesake Saada province, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier, the Houthi group denied US claims that an American airstrike had targeted a meeting of its military leaders in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.in

--IANS

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