(AFP) - Iran's delegate to the Conference of the Least Developed Countries held in Doha entered into a quarrel with his Yemeni counterpart, who criticized Tehran during his Monday speech, accusing it of sending "gifts of death" to his country.

Yemen, the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula, has witnessed a bloody conflict since 2014 between forces loyal to the internationally recognized government and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The conflict escalated with the intervention of Saudi Arabia at the head of a military coalition in March 2015 to stop the Houthis' advance after they took control of the capital, Sana'a.

Since then, the conflict has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis and caused a humanitarian crisis that the United Nations described as the worst in the world, with the displacement of millions of people.

A member of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Othman Majali, said from Doha that Yemen is living in "exceptional circumstances, not among the reasons for which are the scarcity of resources ... (rather) the coup and the war launched by the terrorist Houthi militia against the Yemeni people, the militias that were trained and funded by the Iranian regime."

Mojalli spoke about "terrorist and racist movements created by Iran in Arab countries to spread chaos and control the region, its countries and capabilities."

He also referred to "Iran's continued sabotage practices in Yemen," accusing the Islamic Republic of "sending gifts of death that kill our people across the seas and across land from drones and ballistic missiles," to withdraw from the conference when the head of the Iranian delegation, Vice President Mohsen Mansouri, ascended to the podium.

Mansouri was quick to respond, saying at the end of his speech, "I feel sorry for the untruthful, baseless and irresponsible statements made by the person who spoke on behalf of Yemen. His attempt to divert attention from the agenda of the meeting is regrettable."

This comes days after the British Navy announced on Thursday that it had seized, on February 23, with the help of the US Navy, "Iranian" anti-tank missiles and components used in the manufacture of ballistic missiles from a boat in the Gulf waters during an attempt to smuggle them.

The weapons seized include Iranian-made anti-tank guided missiles, similar to the Russian Kornet, and components for medium-range ballistic missiles, according to the British Navy.

On Friday, Iran denied the accusations, which it described as "false allegations."

Tehran is accused of supporting the Houthi rebels militarily, but it denies this and insists that it only provides political support to them.