Ukraine’s attack on Iranian commercial vessel ‘cannot go unanswered’: Iran

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that a Ukrainian attack on an Iranian commercial vessel, which killed a sailor, “cannot go unanswered.”

“(Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy has attacked an Iranian commercial vessel, killing a sailor,” Araghchi said on the US social media company X.

He described the attack as “a blatant UN Charter violation,” claiming that it was carried out “at Israel’s behest to drag Europe into its war.”

Araghchi said he conveyed Iran’s position during separate phone calls with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Iran on Saturday summoned Ukraine’s charge d’affaires in Tehran over what it claims was a Ukrainian military attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea that killed one sailor and injured another.

On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that Ukraine had achieved “very strong results” with long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea, including against “vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran, as well as a warship.”