Tehran accused Ukraine of attacking an Iranian ship at Israel's behest

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi put forward a conspiracy theory that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered an attack on an Iranian vessel not simply because it was carrying weapons. 

The Iranian official claimed that the attack was carried out “at Israel’s behest” to drag Europe into the war, and warned that Ukraine’s actions “will not go unanswered.”

Araghchi also reported that the incident had been discussed with EU and Russian diplomats. Meanwhile, the day before, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukrainian intelligence agencies noted that the long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea were directed against a Russian military vessel and sanctioned cargo ships transporting military cargo between Iran and Russia.

Source: Araghchi on social media platform X.

Earlier, Zelenskyy stated that the Ukrainian Defense Forces had carried out a series of long-range strikes on targets within Russian territory and in the Caspian Sea. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that among the targets struck were a facility in Kirov, an oil refinery in Tyumen, a logistics facility in Yekaterinburg, and vessels involved in military transport.

The cargo ships Port Olya 2 and Begey were struck; according to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), they were being used to transport military cargo between Iran and Russia.