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Caspian strike sparks war
Ukraine said its drones struck two Russian vessels carrying military cargoes in the Caspian Sea, and it asserted that both had left Iran for a Russian port, while Iran countered that one of its commercial vessels carrying a cargo of iron had been struck, killing one seafarer and injuring three others.
CNN reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X that the targets included “ships that were involved in transporting military cargo from Iran, as well as a warship,” and Ukraine’s security service later identified one target as a Russian missile boat.
The dispute escalated Monday after Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said, “Ukraine’s dangerous adventurism will certainly not go unanswered by us,” and Ukraine’s Chargé d’Affaires in Tehran was summoned to the foreign ministry over the incident.
CNN also noted that the ship Iran described was sailing from the Russian port of Astrakhan to Anzali in Iran, described by Iranian regional governor Hadi Hagh-Shenas as “a safe and reliable corridor for commercial exchanges between the two ports.”
Tehran and Kyiv trade assurances
As tensions rose after Tehran accused Ukraine of attacking an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, killing one sailor and injuring another, Ukraine’s acting Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a statement on X that he sought to avoid “unnecessary escalation” with Iran.
TRT World reported Sybiha’s message after a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, including Sybiha’s insistence that “Diplomacy is about direct conversation, even when it's difficult.”
Anadolu Ajansı said Araghchi told X that Sybiha assured him the attack on an Iranian commercial vessel was “unintentional” and that Kyiv “seeks no escalation,” while Araghchi added that attacks against Iranian citizens or national interests are “unacceptable.”
TRT World further said Araghchi wrote that he was assured the attack on the Iranian vessel “was not deliberate,” and that Kiev “seeks no escalation.”
Retaliation fears and regional stakes
While Ukraine and Iran sought to contain the fallout, the Kremlin said the Ukrainian attack on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea should be considered an assault on Iran itself, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Kyiv of widening “terrorist attacks.”
The Jerusalem Post quoted Peskov saying, “This threat must be neutralized and definitively destroyed,” as it described Iran’s condemnation of the attack that it said resulted in an explosion that killed one sailor and injured another.
Al-Monitor (Reuters) reported that Sybiha warned Araghchi to end all support for Russia’s war against Ukraine, writing on X: “I emphasised the necessity to refrain from any escalatory steps, as well as to end any support for Russia’s war against Ukraine.”
Al-Monitor also said Araghchi confirmed on X that Sybiha assured him the attack on the Iranian ship was unintentional and that Kyiv did not seek escalation, while Araghchi added, “There must be restitution for losses,” leaving the next step tied to compensation and whether either side escalates further.
