“(US Secretary of State) Marco Rubio’s lies cannot replace facts,” Esmaeil Baqaei wrote in a post on his X account on Thursday.  

“Ansarallah is an independent Yemeni actor that makes its own decisions; it takes orders from no one and acts as nobody’s proxy,” he emphasized.

“The roots of instability in the region lie in US military interventions and hegemonic policies. If Washington genuinely wanted peace, it would take one simple step: end its malign and destabilizing interventions in our region.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman went on to say, “Peace in Yemen cannot be imposed through bombs and external pressure. It begins with genuine negotiations based on the roadmap agreed by the parties.”

It came after Rubio blamed Iran for Yemeni strikes on Saudi Arabia, saying on Tuesday that “the Iranian hand” was behind attacks launched by Yemeni forces against Saudi targets.

Saudi Arabia and its allies launched an aggression on Yemen and imposed a simultaneous siege on the impoverished Arab country in 2015 in an unsuccessful campaign aimed at restoring the country’s former Riyadh- and Washington-backed authorities.

Yemeni forces have vowed to continue attacking Saudi targets until the blockade against the country is lifted.