Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has warned that a Ukrainian attack on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea will “not go unanswered”, escalating tensions between Tehran and Kyiv as the two sides gave conflicting accounts of the incident.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry described the attack as “hostile and criminal”, saying one Iranian sailor was killed and several others wounded. Tehran summoned Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires to formally protest the incident.
Araqchi accused Ukraine of carrying out the attack at Israel’s request and attempting to draw European countries into the conflict, but provided no evidence to support the claims. He said Iran had never intervened in the war between Russia and Ukraine and accused Kyiv of violating the UN Charter.
Ukraine offered a different account. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces had targeted vessels in the Caspian Sea that were allegedly being used to transport military-related cargo linked to Iran.
Israeli media, citing Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel, reported that the vessels were carrying Iranian weapons intended to support Russia’s war effort in Ukraine. The claim could not be independently verified.
Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of using Iranian-designed drones in attacks against its territory since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. Kyiv has also accused Iran of providing military support to Russia, while Tehran has denied involvement in the war.
The incident could mark a significant escalation in tensions between Iran and Ukraine, extending the wider conflict into the Caspian Sea and highlighting the increasingly interconnected military relationships involving Iran, Russia and Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergy Lavrov expressed condolences to Araqchi over the death of the Iranian sailor. Moscow said Araqchi called for an end to what he described as “such adventurism” by Kyiv and thanked authorities in Russia’s Astrakhan region for assisting the vessel’s crew.
The incident comes as Iran and the United States have temporarily paused direct military operations following 13 consecutive nights of attacks. A senior Iranian source told Reuters that Tehran would suspend its regional military operations as long as Washington also refrained from further attacks.
