Iran Furious After Its Ship Is Blown Up by Ukraine
Iran has reacted furiously after a commercial vessel belonging to it was attacked by the Ukrainian military in the Caspian Sea. The strike, which blew up the Iranian ship, killed one crew member.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stressed that the Ukrainian military attack could not be “left without a response”. He also alleged Israel’s involvement in the attack.
“Zelensky has attacked an Iranian commercial ship and killed a sailor,” Araghchi said in a statement on social media platform X, as reported by detikNews on Monday (27 July 2026).
Araghchi said the Ukrainian attack violated the United Nations Charter. He also claimed the strike was carried out “on Israel’s orders”.
“This is a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, carried out on Israel’s orders to drag Europe into its war,” the Iranian Foreign Minister said.
In his statement, Araghchi also said he had conveyed Iran’s position in separate telephone conversations with the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“In talks with EU High Representative Kallas and Foreign Minister Lavrov, it was made clear that the actions of ‘the parasite’ in Kyiv ‘CANNOT BE LEFT WITHOUT A RESPONSE’,” Araghchi asserted.
On Saturday (25 July), Iran summoned Ukraine’s charge d’affaires in Tehran to protest against Kyiv’s military strike on the Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea. The attack killed one sailor and injured another.
On the same day, Zelensky said via X that Ukraine had achieved “very strong results” through long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea, including against “ships used for the delivery of military cargo involving Iran, as well as a warship”.
Ukraine’s intelligence service (SBU) said via Telegram that drone strikes had been carried out against “cargo ships under international sanctions and used to transport military cargo between Iran and Russia”.
In its protest, the Iranian authorities stressed that Tehran “has never interfered in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine”.