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Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Sunday condemned Ukraine's strike on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, warning that the incident "cannot go unanswered", accusing Kyiv of violating the UN Charter.
In a post on X, Araghchi alleged that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had ordered the strike on the Iranian vessel, killing a sailor, and claimed it was carried out "at Israel's behest to drag Europe into its war." https://x.com/araghchi/status/2081406217486778612 "Zelenskyy has attacked an Iranian commercial vessel, killing a sailor. A blatant UN Charter violation done at Israel's behest to drag Europe into its war," Araghchi said. He added that in calls with European Union High Representative Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, he had made it clear that "what the freeloader in Kyiv did CANNOT GO UNANSWERED." Araghchi's remarks came after Iran earlier summoned Ukraine's acting charge d'affaires in Tehran to lodge a formal protest over the incident. According to Iran's official news agency IRNA, Assistant Foreign Minister and Director General for Eurasia Manouchehr Moradi conveyed Tehran's strong protest, calling the strike on the Iranian commercial vessel a "hostile and criminal act." Moradi said the strike violated the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter, amounted to an act of aggression, and posed "a clear threat to the security of all littoral states." He said Ukraine must be held accountable for the incident and those responsible must be punished. The Iranian Foreign Ministry also said that Tehran "will firmly defend its national security and interests and will not leave attacks on the lives and property of its citizens unanswered." The diplomatic protest followed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's post on X that Ukraine had carried out long-range strikes against military-related targets in Russia, including in the Caspian Sea. https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/2080955669407015342 "We also achieved very strong results with long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea - including vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran, as well as a warship," Zelenskyy said. In a separate post, Zelenskyy also alleged that Russia had been providing Iran with satellite imagery of Gulf states and US military facilities, claiming the intelligence was used in connection with Iranian strikes. https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/2081074329115078813 He said, "I will instruct our intelligence to share with our partners the information we have regarding Russia's new assistance to the Iranian regime. 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. At the same time, there is a clear correlation between Russia's satellite imagery of these sites and Iranian strikes - both before the attacks, in preparation for them, and afterwards, to assess the damage inflicted." The exchange marks a further escalation in tensions between Tehran and Kyiv, with Iran accusing Ukraine of targeting its commercial shipping while Ukraine maintains the vessels were involved in military cargo shipments linked to Russia's war effort. (ANI)
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