Sana'a, Yemen - A Yemeni state security court on Monday adjourned the trial of three of Yemeni men charged with spying for Iran, the defendants' lawyer said.

"The court postponed the ruling session until March 23," Shadha Nasser told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. She said the court, which had been expected to deliver a verdict, gave no reasons for the delay.

The defendants, aged between 31 and 57 years old, faced charges of "illegal contact with a foreign state, and the transmission of military information to it."

Prosecutors have told the court that the defendants had provided the Iranian embassy in Sana'a last year with information about Yemen's coastguard forces in the southern port city of Aden.

Abdul-Kareem Lalji, 33, Hani Muhammed Deen, 31, and Iskandar Abdullah Yusuf, 57, also provided Iran with details of foreign navy ships that call at the port, they said.

According to the charge sheet, the defendants handed over to the embassy "documents and pictures related to defence secrets and the country's political, security, and economic situation."

Since the trial that opened on October 11 included 10 court hearings. (dpa)