Ukraine Attacks Caspian Sea ‘at Israel's Incitement’, Iran Threatens Retaliation

Iran has threatened to respond after a Ukrainian attack on an Iranian commercial ship in the Caspian Sea killed one sailor and injured several others, according to Al Jazeera. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the attack could not be left unanswered and described it as a clear violation of the UN Charter.

Araghchi said in a social media post on Sunday that the attack had been carried out after “Israeli provocation” aimed at dragging Europe into the war. He said he made the remarks during phone calls with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

According to Iran’s Foreign Ministry, the commercial vessel was hit in an explosion during the Ukrainian attack on Saturday. One sailor was killed and several others were injured.

Ukraine said it had targeted a Russian warship in the Caspian Sea as well as vessels used to transport Iran-related military cargo. Iran’s Foreign Ministry, however, said Tehran had never interfered in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Iranian senior lawmaker Ebrahim Azizi warned that Ukraine could face retaliation over the attack. In a post on X on Monday morning, Azizi, who heads parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, wrote: “Any attack on Iran carries a price, and that remains true today; the United States and Israel know this very well.”

Azizi described the attack as a “miscalculation” and added: “Ukraine may also soon realise that Iran does not leave any action unanswered.” Iran summoned Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in Tehran to protest what it called a “hostile and criminal act.”

On the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that Ukraine had achieved “very powerful results” in long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea. He said the targets included “vessels used to carry Iran-related military cargo and a warship.”

Zelenskyy accused Iran of providing military assistance to Russia. He said: “Since the beginning of July, we have recorded active Russian satellite surveillance over the Persian Gulf countries and the US military bases located there. These images later reach Iran.”

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Kyiv has repeatedly accused Tehran of helping Moscow’s air attacks on Ukrainian cities by supplying thousands of Shahed drones. Ukraine has also expressed solidarity with Middle Eastern countries that became targets of Tehran after the US-Israel and Iran war. It has sent Ukrainian military personnel to Gulf countries to help destroy Shahed drones.

Lavrov expressed condolences over the death of the sailor, according to a statement published on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website. Lavrov said the ship had departed from the Astrakhan region, and that Araghchi had thanked local authorities there for assisting the crew.

Araghchi also stressed the need to stop what he called “such audacious actions by the Kyiv government,” the Russian statement said.

The statement added that Araghchi also briefed Lavrov on ongoing diplomatic efforts aimed at reducing tensions in the Middle East.