Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday accused Ukraine of attacking an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea on Saturday. File photo by Ceerwan Azeez/EPA
July 26 (UPI) -- Iran has accused Ukraine of attacking one of its commercial vessels in the Caspian Sea over the weekend, killing one person onboard and injuring another.
Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the attack occurred early Saturday. The casualties were the result of an explosion, it said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov identified the vessel as Ana, an Iran-owned dry cargo ship, which departed from the northern Russian city of Astrakhan with "civilian cargo."
In an online statement Sunday, Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi of Iran said he told his Russian and European counterparts that "what the freeloader in Kyiv did CANNOT GO UNANSWERED."
The incident came as Ukraine has been conducting long-range strikes inside Russia targeting oil-industry infrastructure, which Ukrainian, U.S. and European officials say has been financially backing Russia's four-year-long war.
