Iran considered striking one of Ukraine’s seaports with a ballistic missile in retaliation for a Ukrainian attack on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea, The New York Times reported, citing Iranian and Western officials familiar with the matter. Tehran reportedly weighed using a missile with a small warhead in what it viewed as a “symbolic” response designed to cause limited damage.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Iranian officials believed the move could end the confrontation, but Western governments warned that Ukraine’s response was unpredictable and that the escalation could spiral into a wider conflict. Diplomatic efforts eventually helped de-escalate the situation and persuaded Iran to abandon the planned strike, according to NYT sources. The de-escalation came after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha over the July 25 attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea. Araghchi said Sybiha assured him that the strike was unintentional and that Kyiv was not seeking escalation. “Iran does not seek escalation either, but made clear any attack on our citizens or interests is unacceptable. There must be restitution for losses,” Araghchi wrote on X. Sybiha said he urged Iran to refrain from “any escalatory steps” and stressed that Ukraine “has never intended to target civilian vessels.”