Riyadh: The Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen on Thursday denied an accusation by Tehran that its warplanes had targeted the Iranian embassy there.

An investigation found that "the allegations are false and that no operations were carried out around the embassy or near to it," a coalition statement said.

"It also confirms the embassy building is safe and has not been damaged."

Earlier Thursday Iran said it would protest to the UN Security Council after it accused Saudi warplanes of deliberately bombing its diplomatic mission in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

"During an air raid by Saudi Arabia against Sanaa, a rocket fell near our embassy and unfortunately one of our guards was seriously wounded," Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said, quoted by official news agency IRNA.

Broken ties

The Iranian accusations came days after Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic ties with Iran in response to an arson attack on its own embassy in Tehran by protesters infuriated by Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

Coalition warplanes and troops have since March been supporting local forces in Yemen on the side of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi against Iran-backed Huthi rebels and their allies who seized large parts of the country.

Earlier, a spokesman for the Saudi-led Arab coalition that is fighting Iran-backed Al Houthi militants in Yemen says it is investigating claims that air strikes on Al Houthi targets have hit the Iranian embassy in Sana’a.

Coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmad Asseri said that Al Houthis have used civilian facilities before, including abandoned embassies. He said “there is no proof yet” that the strikes hit the embassy.

“Al Houthi accusations have no credibility,” he added.

The coalition has intensified air strikes in the Yemeni capital in the past few days in its effort to liberate the country from Al Houthi occupation.

It supports internationally-recognised president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, after he was overthrown from power by the Iran-backed militants in early 2015.