Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Ukraine’s military attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea was carried out at the Israeli regime's behest in a bid to drag Europe into its war in the West Asia region.
In a strongly worded post on X on Sunday, Araghchi said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy orchestrated the attack on the Iranian commercial vessel that left one sailor dead.
He added that the attack constituted a “blatant” violation of the United Nations Charter.
The top Iranian diplomat noted that he raised the issue in separate phone calls with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
He said he made clear during the conversations that the attack "cannot go unanswered."
"I made clear that what the freeloader in Kyiv did CANNOT GO UNANSWERED," he wrote.
Araghchi’s remarks came after the Ukrainian president announced in a post on X that Kiev had hit vessels that he claimed were used in military cargo shipments involving Iran, as well as a warship.
After the atrocity, the Iranian and Russian foreign ministers held a phone call on Sunday and discussed the latest developments in the region and across the world.
In the phone call with Kallas on Saturday, Araghchi called for a decisive response from the UN Security Council, the European Union, and the international community regarding Ukraine’s strike.
He urged international bodies to hold “the perpetrators and supporters of this criminal act” accountable.
In a statement on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said, “By attacking an Iranian commercial vessel, the Ukrainian regime not only committed an internationally wrongful act, but also, in a dangerous manner, sought to spread insecurity.”