The Latest: Iran says evidence of Yemen role was...
NEW YORK (AP) - The Latest on Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (all times local):
3:40 p.m.
Iran's foreign minister says somebody "fabricated" evidence that the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations used to back up the U.S. claim that Iran is arming Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is interviewed by The Associated Press, in New York, Tuesday, April 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley took journalists in November and the Security Council in late January to see fragments recovered from missiles launched from Yemen into Saudi Arabia. The parts bore logos that the U.S. said indicated Iranian origin.
But Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tells The Associated Press that a large missile part had the Iranian logo used on "cheese puffs" - not on military hardware.
Zarif says the part had the logo of "the Standard Institute of Iran." He says that logo is put on consumer goods as a sign of quality, showing "that your cheese puffs will not give you a stomach ache."
Zarif isn't saying that Haley fabricated the evidence, but that "somebody" did and she used it.
___
3:10 p.m.
Iran's foreign minister says the warring parties in Syria should accept the four-point peace plan that Iran put forward in 2013.
Mohammad Javad Zarif says in an interview with The Associated Press that Iran believes this plan "remains the only way for Syria to achieve peace." The plan requires an immediate cease-fire, formation of "an inclusive government of national unity," a new constitution and democratic elections.
But Zarif warns that "if people have the ultimate objective of changing the realities through political means that they couldn't do through military means, then that's another name for continuing this cycle of violence."
He says "the obligation" of outside powers - including Iran, Russia, the U.S. and the U.N. Security Council - is "to facilitate the political solution and not to dictate it."
__
3 p.m.
Iran's foreign minister says Saudi Arabia's "young and ambitious leaders" were under the "illusion" they could score a quick victory in Yemen in three weeks.
Mohammad Javad Zarif made a pointed reference to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in an Associated Press interview. He says the Saudi-led coalition has bombed civilians in Yemen since the war began in 2015. Zarif is pointing to Sunday's attack on a wedding party that killed at least 20.
Zarif insists Iran is not supplying weapons to Shiite Houthi rebels who control the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen. He says they already have all the weapons they need.
He says Iran "would like everybody to stop attacking civilian areas," including the Houthis firing missiles into Saudi Arabia.
__
2:05 p.m.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is warning the Trump administration that pulling out from the Iran nuclear deal would undermine talks with North Korea by proving that America reneges on its promises.
He tells The Associated Press that if President Donald Trump withdraws, Iran would "most likely" abandon the deal as well. Zarif says Iran would no longer be bound by the deal's international obligations. That would free up Iran to resume uranium enrichment activity beyond the limits imposed by the 2015 nuclear accord.
Zarif says Iran would welcome reduced tensions on the Korean Peninsula. But he says Trump is showing that the U.S. "is not a trustworthy, reliable negotiating partner." Zarif says that makes the U.S. "a rather unlikely partner" for any other global agreements.