Iran Warns Ukraine: Attack on Commercial Ship 'Cannot Go Unanswered'

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has warned that a Ukrainian military strike on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea ‘cannot go unanswered’, escalating tensions between the two nations. Araghchi accused Ukraine of acting ‘on Israel’s orders’ and described the attack as a blatant violation of the United Nations Charter.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry reported that the Ukrainian strike caused the commercial ship to explode, killing one sailor and injuring another. Araghchi took to social media to directly address Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, stating: ‘Zelensky has attacked an Iranian commercial ship and killed a sailor.’

Araghchi claimed he had conveyed Iran’s position during separate phone calls with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. ‘In talks with EU High Representative Kallas and Foreign Minister Lavrov, it was stressed that the actions of the parasite in Kyiv cannot go unanswered,’ he asserted.

On Saturday, Iran summoned the Ukrainian chargé d’affaires in Tehran to formally protest the military strike. On the same day, President Zelensky announced via social media that Ukraine had achieved ‘very strong results’ through long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea, targeting vessels used for military cargo shipments involving Iran, as well as a warship. Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service stated that drone strikes were carried out against an internationally sanctioned cargo ship used to transport military cargo between Iran and Russia. Iranian authorities, in their protest, maintained that Tehran has never interfered in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.