DHAKA: The Arab coalition and Yemen's foreign ministry have denied Iran's accusation that Saudi fighter jets struck its embassy in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.

Iran on Thursday said the warplanes had attacked the building on Wednesday night, an allegation that has heightened tensions between the regional powers, reports the aljazeera.com

But the coalition on Thursday night rejected the accusation as "false and void", saying that it did not carry out any operations "in the vicinity of the embassy or near it".

"The coalition command urged that all diplomatic missions in Sanaa should not provide an opportunity for militias to use diplomatic missions' buildings in any military action," it said in a statement on the state Saudi news agency SPA.

Yemen's foreign ministry also that the embassy building had been targeted, according to the government-run state news agency, sabanew.net.

Backed by the Arab coalition, assembled by Saudi Arabia, Yemen's government, led by Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, is battling the Iran-allied Houthis and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

BDST:  1555 HRS, JAN 8, 2016
RS