Iran Warns of Retaliation After Ukraine Strike on Iranian Ship in Caspian Sea
The warning came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukrainian forces had conducted long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea targeting vessels transporting military cargo involving Iran, as well as a warship.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday warned that Tehran would respond after Ukraine carried out a deadly strike on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, escalating tensions over Kyiv's long-range attacks linked to Russia's war in Ukraine.
The warning came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukrainian forces had conducted long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea targeting vessels transporting military cargo involving Iran, as well as a warship.
"Zelenskyy has attacked an Iranian commercial vessel, killing a sailor," Araghchi wrote on X, calling the attack "a blatant UN Charter violation done at Israel's behest to drag Europe into its war."
He said he had informed European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that "what the freeloader in Kyiv did CANNOT GO UNANSWERED."
Iran's Foreign Ministry said the strike caused the vessel to explode, killing one sailor and injuring several others.
The ministry also reiterated that Iran "has never intervened in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine."
On Saturday, Zelensky said Ukraine's armed forces had achieved "very strong results with long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea," including against vessels used to transport military cargo involving Iran and a Russian warship.
Ukraine's military intelligence agency separately said on Telegram that drones had struck "cargo vessels under international sanctions that were used to transport military cargo between Iran and Russia."
According to Iranian state television, Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine's chargé d'affaires in Tehran on Saturday to protest what it described as a "hostile and criminal act."