Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accuses Kyiv of striking an Iranian commercial ship to draw Europe into Israel’s war; Tehran summons Ukraine’s envoy and warns the attack ‘cannot go unanswered’Dennis Bihler|Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi issued the accusation after speaking separately with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.GalleryIranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi“Zelensky has attacked an Iranian commercial vessel, killing a sailor,” Araghchi wrote on X. “A blatant UN Charter violation done at Israel’s behest to drag Europe into its war.”“In calls with EU High Representative Kallas and Foreign Minister Lavrov, [I] made clear that what the freeloader in Kyiv did cannot go unanswered,” he added.No evidence was presented publicly to support Araghchi’s claim that Israel directed the operation. Neither Israel nor Ukraine immediately commented on that specific allegation.The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the vessel was attacked early Saturday, causing an explosion that killed one crew member and injured another. It described the strike as a violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and an act of aggression that risked spreading the Russia-Ukraine war.Tehran also summoned Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires and delivered a formal protest over what it called a “hostile and criminal” attack. Iranian officials said the assault threatened the security of all countries bordering the Caspian Sea and warned that Iran would not leave attacks on its citizens and property unanswered.In his call with Kallas, Araghchi urged the European Union, the UN Security Council and the wider international community to take “decisive” action and hold both the perpetrators and their supporters accountable, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry. The two also discussed tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to contain the regional escalation.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (Photo: TOM BRENNER / AFP)Iranian state-affiliated media intensified the warning, citing the range of Iran’s ballistic missiles and asserting that all Ukrainian territory was within reach. The rhetoric raised the prospect of the Middle East and Ukraine conflicts becoming more directly intertwined.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Ukrainian forces had struck a Russian warship and vessels used to transport military cargo linked to Iran in the Caspian Sea. Kyiv has not described the targeted ships as ordinary commercial vessels.Zelensky also accused Russia of providing Iran with satellite surveillance of Gulf countries and US military installations, saying Russian imagery appeared to correlate with Iranian preparations for and assessments of strikes in the region.Ukraine has repeatedly accused Iran of supporting Russia’s war through the supply of Iranian-designed drones. Tehran maintains that it has not intervened in the conflict, although Iranian weapons and drone technology have been extensively associated with Russian attacks on Ukraine.The Iranian Foreign Ministry said Kyiv was attempting to expand the war and warned that responsibility for the consequences rested with the Ukrainian government and its supporters.I found no independently published statement from Kallas or Lavrov detailing their response to Araghchi’s accusations.Comments