Iranian official compares Haley speech to Powell’s Iraq WMD claims

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is dismissing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley’s claim of evidence she says proves Iran is supporting Yemeni rebels.

Zarif likened her presentation Thursday to former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s claim in 2003 that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD). 

“When I was based at the UN, I saw this show and what it begat,” Zarif tweeted along with a side by side pictures of Haley speaking on Thursday and Powell addressing the U.N. 

When I was based at the UN, I saw this show and what it begat… pic.twitter.com/2sAsMB6o4m

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) December 14, 2017

Powell’s 2003 speech to the U.N. laid out the Bush administration’s case for a war in Iraq. Powell in 2016 called the speech “a great intelligence failure.”

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Zarif’s tweet comes after Haley unveiled what she referred to as “undeniable evidence” of Iran-manufactured weapons in the possession of Yemeni rebels, a move that would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions.

“As you know, we do not often declassify this type of military equipment recovered from these attacks, but today we are taking an extraordinary step of presenting it here in an open setting,” she said, speaking at the Defense Intelligence Agency headquarters at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling.

“We did this for a single urgent purpose: because the Iranian regime cannot be allow to engage in its lawless behavior any longer.”

Haley shared debris and weapons parts purportedly manufactured in Iran.

The Trump administration has taken a tough stand against Iran, including the 2015 nuclear deal.