Iran warns Ukraine of retaliation after deadly Caspian Sea strike

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkRussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, meet during the SCO meeting in Kyrgyzstan on July 24, 2026 [Handout/Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP]By Al Jazeera Staff, AFP and ReutersPublished On 27 Jul 202627 Jul 2026Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said a deadly Ukrainian attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea “cannot go unanswered”, calling it a violation of the United Nations Charter.In a social media post on Sunday, Araghchi accused Israel of provoking the attack in an attempt to “drag Europe into its war”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3What lies ahead for Iran’s economy as scope of US war grows beyond Hormuz?list 2 of 3Iran accuses Ukraine of deadly attack on Caspian commercial vessellist 3 of 3After Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea, has Iran war now reached Caspian Sea?end of listHe said he made the comments in calls with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.The Ukrainian attack on Saturday caused the commercial vessel “to explode, killing one sailor and injuring several others”, according to Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Ukraine said it had targeted a Russian warship and vessels used for transporting Iranian-linked military cargo in the Caspian Sea. But the Foreign Ministry said Iran “has never intervened in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine”.Meanwhile, a senior Iranian lawmaker has warned Ukraine could face retaliation over the strike. In a post on X early on Monday, Ebrahim Azizi, head of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said, “Any attack on Iran always comes with a cost, and that remains true today; the US and Israel are well aware of this.”“Ukraine, too, may soon come to understand that Iran does not let actions go unanswered,” Azizi added, calling the attack “miscalculated”.Iran has summoned Ukraine’s charge d’affaires in Tehran over the strike, protesting what it called a “hostile and criminal act”.The same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that Ukraine had achieved “very strong results” with long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea, including against “vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran, as well as a warship”.He also accused Russia of supplying Iran with military support, saying: “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.”Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, Kyiv has accused Tehran of aiding Moscow’s air attacks on Ukrainian cities by supplying thousands of Shahed drones. It has also expressed solidarity with countries in the Middle East targeted by Tehran following the US-Israel war on Iran, sending Ukrainian military personnel to Gulf states to help intercept Shahed drones.Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, meanwhile offered condolences over the sailor’s death.In a statement posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website, he said Araghchi thanked local authorities in Russia’s Astrakhan region, where the vessel had begun its journey, for assisting the crew, and stressed the need to “put an end to such adventures by the Kyiv regime”.The statement added that Araghchi had informed Lavrov of “continuing diplomatic efforts aimed at de-escalating tension in the Middle East”.