Iran accuses Ukraine for deadly Caspian strike, vows to retaliate
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi
Abdullateef Fowewe
Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Abbas Araghchi, has accused Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy of ordering a drone strike on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea that killed one sailor and injured another, calling the attack “a blatant UN Charter violation done at Israel’s behest to drag Europe into its war.”
Araghchi in a statement revealed that during his call to EU High Representative Maroš Šefčovič Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that “what the freeloader in Kyiv did CANNOT GO UNANSWERED,” and that Tehran had summoned Ukraine’s diplomat in Tehran to lodge a protest.
Ukraine confirmed it carried out long‑range strikes in the Caspian Sea over the weekend, saying its forces targeted vessels it says were involved in transporting military cargoes for Iran‑Russia cooperation and also struck a Russian warship.
Kyiv has argued such strikes are intended to disrupt supply lines that it links to military support for Russia.
Iran, which described the ship as a civilian commercial vessel, reported one sailor killed and another wounded in the explosion.
Tehran framed the incident as part of a broader effort by Israel to widen the conflict beyond Ukraine’s borders, and warned of retaliatory measures tied to Ukraine’s support for Russia.
