The Iranian embassy in Sana'a said on Wednesday that the ship seized two days ago by Yemen's navy was empty, wondering about official reports that the ship was carrying weapons, the News Yemen said.

Deputy Iranian ambassador Murtadha Abedeen affirmed in a telephone conversation with the website that the ship was destined for the Kasfina Lake, where it operates.

The ship originated in Iran heading to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates for maintenance at a company it had contracted with, he said, adding the ship had official documents that proved neither weapons nor other cargo were onboard.

The vessel sailed in the Red Sea with five Iranians and two Indians crew members and it had to sail to Oman after one crew member died onboard, according to Abedeen, who also said that it remained in the Salala port for a week to finalize measures over the death of the Indian crew member.

The ship was seized by the Yemeni navy and taken to the Yemeni coast, he said, wondering how the ship can carry weapons while it was sailing very fast, about 8 nautical miles an hour.

Yemen earlier said that it had seized an Iranian ship with five Iranians and an Indian crew members on board. The ship was carrying weapons for the Houthi insurgents, who Yemen says receive support from Iranian bodies. Iran denied the accusations.

Yemeni officials also said investigations were underway.

The ship was seized in the far northwest off the Midy Port in Hajjah and the weapons included anti-armor missiles.

The army and the Houthi rebels have been in a sporadic war since 2004. The seizure came amid persistent confrontations between the two sides that erupted in August.