Iran FM blames Zelenskyy over Caspian sea attack, says incident ‘cannot go unanswered’
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- Iran has accused Ukraine of carrying out a strike on an Iranian merchant vessel in the Caspian Sea that killed one sailor and injured another.
- Tehran warned the incident “cannot go unanswered” after Ukraine claimed the targeted vessels were linked to Iranian military cargo transfers.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of ordering an attack on an Iranian merchant vessel in the Caspian Sea that killed one sailor, warning that the incident “cannot go unanswered.”
In a post on X, Araghchi described the strike as a “blatant UN Charter violation” and claimed it was carried out “at Israel’s behest to drag Europe into its war.”
The Iranian foreign minister said he raised the issue during phone calls with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, adding that he had made clear that “what the freeloader in Kyiv did CANNOT GO UNANSWERED.”
The accusations came after Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukrainian forces had carried out long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea targeting vessels Kyiv said were being used to transport military-related cargo connected to Iran.
Ukrainian intelligence services reported that the targeted ships were sanctioned cargo vessels allegedly involved in transporting military equipment between Iran and Russia.
Iran's Foreign Ministry said an explosion struck a commercial vessel on Saturday morning, killing one sailor and injuring another. Tehran said the ship was a merchant vessel and stressed that Iran has maintained neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Iranian state television reported that Ukraine's charge d'affaires in Tehran was summoned over what Iranian officials described as a “hostile and criminal act.”
The incident has increased tensions between Tehran and Kyiv as both sides trade accusations over Iran's alleged support for Russia's military operations and Ukraine's expanding strikes against targets linked to Moscow's supply networks.
