Iran blames Zelenskyy for Caspian Sea vessel attack, says it won't go unanswered

Iran has accused Ukraine of carrying out a strike on one of its commercial vessels in the Caspian Sea and warned that the incident "cannot go unanswered". Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the attack, which Tehran says killed one sailor and injured several others.

In a strongly worded post on X, Araghchi condemned the strike and accused Ukraine of violating international law.

"Zelenskyy has attacked an Iranian commercial vessel, killing a sailor," Araghchi wrote.

He described the attack as "a blatant UN Charter violation done at Israel's behest to drag Europe into its war". The Iranian foreign minister also revealed that he had raised the issue during separate conversations with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

"I made clear that what the freeloader in Kyiv did CANNOT GO UNANSWERED," Araghchi said. He commented a day after Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine had carried out long-range strikes on vessels transporting military cargo linked to Iran.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said the strike caused the commercial vessel to explode, killing one crew member and injuring several others.

"The Islamic republic has never intervened in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine," it said in a statement.

IRAN SUMMONS UKRAINIAN DIPLOMAT

Hours before Araghchi's remarks, Tehran summoned Ukraine's acting charge d'affaires to formally protest the incident. According to Iran's official news agency IRNA, Assistant Foreign Minister and Director General for Eurasia Manouchehr Moradi described the strike as a "hostile and criminal act."

Moradi said the attack violated the basic principles of the United Nations Charter, amounted to an act of aggression and threatened regional security in the Caspian Sea.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry added that Tehran "will firmly defend its national security and interests and will not leave attacks on the lives and property of its citizens unanswered".

ZELENSKYY DEFENDS LONG-RANGE STRIKES

The row erupted after Zelenskyy highlighted Ukraine's expanding long-range military operations. Writing on X, the Ukrainian President said Kyiv had achieved significant results by striking targets deep inside Russian territory and beyond.

"We also achieved very strong results with long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea -- including vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran, as well as a warship," Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine's military intelligence later said drone strikes had targeted cargo vessels operating under international sanctions that were allegedly being used to transport military cargo between Iran and Russia.

Kyiv has consistently said that disrupting supply routes supporting Russia's military campaign is a legitimate part of its defence strategy.

NEW CLAIMS AGAINST RUSSIA

Zelenskyy also accused Moscow of expanding military cooperation with Tehran beyond the battlefield. In a separate statement, he alleged that Russia had supplied Iran with satellite imagery of Gulf states and US military facilities.

"I will instruct our intelligence to share with our partners the information we have regarding Russia's new assistance to the Iranian regime," Zelenskyy said.

"Since the beginning of July, we have recorded active Russian satellite surveillance of the Gulf states and US military facilities located there. These images subsequently appear in Iran."

"At the same time, there is a clear correlation between Russia's satellite imagery of these sites and Iranian strikes - both before the attacks, in preparation for them, and afterwards, to assess the damage inflicted."