Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on Monday that Ukraine's attack on an Iranian vessel 'clearly violates the UN charter,' claimed the attack was carried out 'at Israel's behest,' and said the incident will not go unanswered. He said he raised the matter with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi escalated his rhetoric on Monday, issuing a statement explicitly accusing Ukraine of attacking an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea "at Israel's behest." He said he raised the matter with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, warning that the incident "will not go unanswered." The statement comes after a series of accusations by Araghchi on Sunday evening.
The timeline of the Iranian accusations unfolded over the past day. At 18:50 Jerusalem on Sunday, Araghchi first accused Ukraine of attacking an Iranian vessel, killing a sailor, and alleged that Israel ordered the strike to drag Europe into war. In subsequent statements, he confirmed the single fatality, threatened retaliation, and explicitly accused Israel of inciting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The accusations have been consistent, but Monday's statement added the diplomatic outreach to EU and Russian officials, framing the attack as a violation of the UN Charter.
The Zioneer reported earlier on Monday that Zelensky, in a Sky News interview, responded by saying that Iran and North Korea had already attacked Ukraine by supplying weapons to Russia. The US military previously condemned an Iranian attack on a vessel as "unjustified aggression" that violated the ceasefire, as The Zioneer reported on June 26. The broader context includes heightened tensions between Iran and Ukraine amid the Russia-Ukraine war, with Iran providing drones and other weapons to Moscow.
The specific details of the alleged Ukrainian attack on the Iranian vessel remain unverified. No independent confirmation of the attack or the sailor's death has emerged. Israel has not commented on the accusations. The Iranian claims are based on statements from its foreign minister, with no corroborating evidence presented publicly.
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