Iran says Ukraine’s attack on ship ‘cannot go unanswered’

Tehran: Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Ukraine’s attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea “cannot go unanswered,” accusing Kyiv of acting “at Israel’s behest” to draw Europe into conflict.

In a post on X, Araghchi alleged that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered the strike, calling it a “blatant UN Charter violation.” He told EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in separate calls that the attack must be addressed, Xinhua reported.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said it summoned Ukraine’s charge d’affaires in Tehran and delivered a formal protest condemning the “hostile and criminal” act. The ministry urged the EU, the UN Security Council and the international community to hold the perpetrators and their backers accountable, and called for diplomatic efforts to defuse regional tensions, including in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian officials said the strike occurred at 0300 local time on Saturday and caused the vessel to explode; one sailor was killed and three others injured, semi-official Mehr news agency reported. The steel-laden ship was travelling from Russia’s Astrakhan to Iran’s Anzali port in Gilan province when its bridge was destroyed, leaving it disabled, provincial governor Hadi Haghshenas said. Iran intends to pursue the matter through domestic and international legal channels.

Kyiv has said its forces struck a Russian warship and vessels carrying Iran-linked military cargo in the Caspian Sea.

(Inputs from IANS)