TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham rejected the US Secretary of State John Kerry's accusations that Tehran is seeking to destabilize the region, stressing that foreign meddling is destabilizing the region.

"The allegations of certain US officials about what they call 'Iran's destabilizing acts in the region' are completely rejected," Afkham said on Tuesday.

"Instability in the region is rooted in the foreign interference in the region's affairs and this (foreign meddling) threatens security and stability and prevents deep cooperation and strong and constructive interaction based on mutual interests among the regional states," she added.

Afkham underlined that the US support for Saudi Arabia's invasion of Yemen and ignoring the massacre of innocent women and children as well as imposing a siege on the poor Arab country are all instances of Washington's illegal interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

She blasted the US double-standard approach to the terrorist groups, and said, "Supporting the governments which are considered as the main financial and intelligence backers of these groups has created instability and insecurity."

Her remarks came after Kerry spoke in�the wake of�reports that Iran had dispatched two naval ships, including a destroyer, to�Bab al-Mandab Strait near Yemen.

"Iran needs to�recognize that the United States is not going to�stand by�while the region is destabilized or while people engage in�overt warfare across�lines�� international boundaries�� in�other countries," Kerry told the PBS television on Wednesday.

The Navy's 34th Fleet, comprising Alborz destroyer and Bushehr helicopter-carrier warship, is conducting anti-piracy patrols in the high seas and Gulf of Aden.

The mission of the 34th fleet will last about three months in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.

Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari underlined on Monday that deployment of his forces and warships in the international waters has promoted security for the regional nations.

"(The regional) countries feel more secure due to our deployment in free waters, the Gulf of Aden and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, specially because this presence also conveys a message of peace and friendship to the entire world while meeting the interests of the Islamic Republic," Sayyari said in the Southeastern city of Sirjan.

He said the warships of other states are also deployed in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, but some of them are in the waterway in pursuit of goals other than establishment of security.

Sayyari stressed that the reason behind Iran's deployment in the international waters is clear and such a presence is necessary.

Sayyari had announced late in April that Iranian warships were carrying out patrolling missions in Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Gulf of Aden.

"The Navy's 34th fleet of warships is (now) conducting patrols in Bab al-Mandab Strait," Sayyari said, addressing a ceremony in Tehran, and added, "We don�t enter any countries' (territorial) waters and are present in the free waters based on the international laws and regulations."

In April, Commander of the Iranian Navy's 34th fleet Commodore Mostafa Tajeddini dismissed Pentagon and US media reports that his warships were made to change their route in the Gulf of Aden after receiving warnings from the US navy ships present in the region.

"The news report by the foreign media that we have changed our route after the US fleet's arrival is only a media ballyhoo," Tajeddini said.

"We have had communications with many naval units since we entered the Gulf of Aden, but no country has ever dared to warn the Iranian Navy," he added.

Also last month, Sayyari rejected media reports that Iran had been shooed away from the Gulf of Aden by American warships, and stressed Tehran's firm decision to continue deployment in the waterway to protect the country's cargo ships from pirate attacks.

Asked about the US and Saudi Arabia's claims that the Iranian warships planned to deliver weapons to Ansarullah revolutionary movement in Yemen when they received a warning from the US warships and left the region, he said the Iranian fleet of warships were sent to the free waters based on the international laws to protect the cargo ships and oil tankers from pirates' attacks, and not delivering weapons to other nations.

Implying that allegations of the Saudis and Americans were not true, the Admiral reminded that he, as Iran's Navy commander, had officially stated the mission of the Iranian fleet and the location of its mission (Gulf of Aden), and the presence and mission of the Iranian warships was completely clear and could be monitored and verified.

He also stressed that Iran would never allow anyone to inspect its ships and vessels.

"We are present in this region and provide security coverage for our ships since, anyway, it is the route for the voyage of our ships," he said.

Stressing Iran's firm decision to continue deployment in the international waters, including the Gulf of Aden, he said, "We would never leave the region and give up protecting our cargo ships for the sake of their words."

He underscored that the Iranian flotilla of warships not only provides security for the country's cargo ships but also protect other states' ships and oil tankers from pirate attacks.

Also, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi dismissed the US allegations that the Iranian warships intended to supply weapons to the Houthis and were forced to leave the region after receiving an alarm from an American fleet, saying, "Iran has never entered Yemen's territorial waters, but conducts routine patrolling in the international waters in the Gulf of Aden and the Sea of Oman, providing service and rescuing even foreign trade vessels, whose countries have appreciated the Iranian navy for rescuing their ships."

According to UN Security Council resolutions, different countries can send their warships to the Gulf of Aden and coastal waters of Somalia against the pirates and even with prior notice to Somali government enter the territorial waters of that country in pursuit of Somali sea pirates.

The Gulf of Aden - which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea - is an important energy corridor, particularly because Persian Gulf oil is shipped to the West via the Suez Canal.

By Fars News Agency