Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday rejected as lies an Israeli claim that it intercepted a ship carrying advanced rockets sent by Tehran to the Gaza Strip.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday rejected as lies an Israeli claim that it intercepted a ship carrying advanced rockets sent by Tehran to the Gaza Strip.

"An Iranian ship carrying arms for Gaza. Captured just in time for annual (pro-Israel lobby) AIPAC anti Iran campaign. Amazing Coincidence! Or same failed lies," Zarif wrote on Twitter, referring to a pro-Israel lobby group.

For his part, Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian denied Israeli claims.

"The claim of sending a ship carrying Iranian weapons to Gaza is not true,” he was quoted by official IRNA news agency as saying.

"This claim is merely based on the repetitive and unfounded lies of the Zionist media" aimed at derailing negotiations between world powers and Iran over its contested nuclear program,” Abdollahian added.

The Zionist entity said it had intercepted the "Klos-C" in the Red Sea on Wednesday, claiming Syrian-made weapons aboard had been shipped overland to Iran and then onward by sea, intended for Palestinian militants in Gaza.