- Tehran condemns strike on Iranian vessel as an illegal act after one sailor was killed and several others injured
TEHRAN: Iran on Monday warned Ukraine of “unforeseen” consequences following a deadly attack on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea, sharply escalating tensions between Tehran and Kyiv over the increasingly international dimensions of the Ukraine conflict.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei condemned the attack as “absolutely illegal and unjustified,” saying it violated the United Nations Charter and amounted to dangerous adventurism.
“The consequences of Ukraine’s action will certainly be unforeseen,” Baqaei said during his weekly press briefing, warning that the incident “will certainly not go unanswered” by Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi issued a similar warning on Sunday, saying Tehran would respond to the deadly strike. He accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of targeting an Iranian commercial vessel and said the attack resulted in the death of a sailor.
Araghchi described the incident as a “blatant UN Charter violation” and alleged that the attack was carried out at Israel’s behest in an effort to draw Europe further into the conflict.
The Iranian foreign minister said he had raised the issue during separate telephone conversations with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, making clear that Kyiv’s actions could not go unanswered.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the attack caused the vessel to explode, killing one sailor and injuring several others. Tehran also reiterated that it has never intervened in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The escalation followed comments by Zelensky on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had achieved “very strong results” through long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea. He said the attacks targeted vessels involved in military cargo shipments linked to Iran, as well as a warship.
Ukrainian intelligence agencies separately said drone strikes had targeted cargo vessels under international sanctions that were allegedly being used to transport military equipment between Iran and Russia.
Iran’s state television reported that the Foreign Ministry had summoned Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in Tehran on Saturday to formally protest what it described as a “hostile and criminal act.”
The incident marks a significant escalation in tensions between Iran and Ukraine and raises concerns over the potential expansion of the Russia-Ukraine conflict beyond the immediate battlefield.
BY: The Times Union
