Tehran said at least one sailor was killed in a strike in the Caspian Sea

Iran has condemned a Ukrainian strike on a cargo ship in the Caspian Sea that killed one sailor and injured another.

In a post on X on Saturday, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky boasted about what he called "very strong results" from long-range strikes targeting "vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran, as well as a warship."

The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, saying it "risks further fueling and expanding the flames of war." It urged other nations to take a "responsible stance toward this reckless action by the Ukrainian regime" and hold its leadership accountable.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran will not hesitate to protect its national interests and security," the ministry warned.

The ministry also said that "Iran has never intervened in the Russia-Ukraine conflict."

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian confirmed in 2022 that Tehran had delivered a "small number" of Shahed-136 kamikaze drones to Russia months before the Ukraine conflict began in February that year. Moscow has insisted that all Geran-2 drones, believed to be based on the Shahed-136 design, are produced domestically.

The US has developed its own version of the Iranian Shahed-136, the LUCAS, which it used during the war with Iran.

Zelensky said on Saturday that he would instruct Ukraine's intelligence agencies to share "the information we have regarding Russia's new assistance to the Iranian regime" with partner countries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month that Iran had not requested military aid and that Moscow was not supplying it with weapons. US President Donald Trump also said recently that he did not believe either Russia or China were providing military assistance to Iran.

Kiev has actively sought to become involved in the Middle East conflict triggered by the US-Israeli attack on Iran earlier this year. The Ukrainian leadership has claimed to have secured agreements with Gulf states to provide specialists and technology to counter Iranian drones and hopes to obtain additional air defense systems and munitions in return.

According to Zelensky, more than 200 Ukrainian military specialists have been deployed to the Middle East under the agreements. The group reportedly suffered casualties and equipment losses when an Iranian strike hit a depot in Dubai during the first wave of hostilities in the region. Kiev has denied the incident took place.

(RT.com)