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

Tehran: Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on said Ukraine’s attack on an Iranian commercial ship in the Caspian Sea “cannot go unanswered.”

In a post on the social media platform X, Araghchi accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of ordering “a blatant UN Charter violation done at Israel’s behest to drag Europe into its war.”

He said he had “made clear that what the freeloader in Kyiv did CANNOT GO UNANSWERED” in phone calls with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday and Sunday respectively, Xinhua news agency reported.

He made the remarks on Saturday in a phone call with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, in which the two sides discussed the latest regional developments, according to a statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

Araghchi condemned the Ukrainian attack, urging the EU, UN Security Council, and international community to hold its “perpetrators” and supporters to account, according to the statement.

The two sides also addressed developments in the Strait of Hormuz, stressing the need for diplomatic initiatives to manage regional tensions, it added.

In a separate statement, the ministry said it summoned Ukraine’s charge d’affaires in Tehran on Saturday over the attack, formally delivering a note of protest condemning the “hostile and criminal” act.

According to the Iranian foreign ministry, the attack took place at 3:00 a.m. local time on Saturday (2330 GMT on Friday) and led to the vessel’s explosion as well as a sailor’s death.

The semi-official Mehr news agency on Sunday reported that three sailors were also injured in the attack.

Citing the Governor of Iran’s northern Gilan province Hadi Haghshenas, it said that the steel-laden vessel was en route from Russia’s Astrakhan Port to Iran’s Anzali Port in Gilan when it came under attack.

The ship’s bridge was destroyed, leaving it unable to continue its voyage, Haghshenas said, adding that the incident would be pursued through domestic and international legal channels.

Zelensky said on Saturday that his country’s forces had hit a Russian warship and vessels used for transporting Iran-linked military cargo in the Caspian Sea.

–IANS