UPI, Oct.9, 2009 – Washington is concerned about allegations of Iranian support of al-Houthi rebels fighting government forces in north Yemen, officials say.

The official Saba news agency cites a limited press engagement by Jeffrey Feltman, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, who said Washington was concerned about Iran’s meddling in Yemeni affairs.

Yemen said it has uncovered Iranian-made weapons at depots used by al-Houthi rebels, who the government accuses of attempting to establish a caliphate in the region.

The Saba report points to accounts in the Egyptian newspaper al-Ayyam claiming Iranian Embassy officials in Cairo were recruiting Yemeni students in Egypt to fight for the Yemeni insurgency.

Tehran in a statement released earlier this week through its embassy in Bahrain said it has stressed the importance of the independence, sovereignty and unity of Yemen, countering the claims of interference.

Yemen launched a scorched earth campaign against al-Houthi rebels in early August. The United Nations and international relief agencies raised alarm bells over the humanitarian crisis that emerged in the wake of the conflict.