Kyiv [Ukraine], July 28 (ANI): Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has rejected Iran's allegations over a strike on an Iranian commercial vessel, calling Tehran's threats 'unjustified and groundless' and accusing it of being a direct accomplice to Russia's war against Ukraine.

In a post on X on Monday, Sybiha said that Iran had supplied Russia with weapons that have been used in strikes against Ukrainians since the beginning of Moscow's full-scale invasion in 2022.

'Iran's threats are unjustified and groundless. The regime in Tehran is a direct accomplice to Russian aggression against Ukraine, fuelling Moscow's criminal war with weapons that have killed Ukrainians since 2022,' Sybiha said.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister also accused Iran of attempting to divert international attention from Russia's action in the Black Sea.

'With its statements, Iran also tries to shift attention away from Russia's terror against civilian shipping in the Black Sea, which is threatening global food security. But it will not succeed,' he said.

Sybiha said Russia's strikes on freedom of navigation were a key focus of an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Monday.

'Russia's attacks on freedom of navigation will be at the spotlight of today's emergency UN Security Council meeting, and we expect strong responses by the international community,' he said.

Sybiha's remarks came in response to a post by the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, which he shared on X with the words, 'Iranian Lies'.

Earlier on Sunday, in a post on X, Araghchi alleged that Ukraine had attacked an Iranian commercial vessel, killing a sailor, and called the incident 'a blatant UN Charter violation.'

'Zelenskyy has attacked an Iranian commercial vessel, killing a sailor. A blatant UN Charter violation done at Israel's behest to drag Europe into its war,' Araghchi said.

He further said that in conversations with EU High Representative Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, he had made it clear that 'what the freeloader in Kyiv did CANNOT GO UNANSWERED.'

Araghchi's remarks came after Iran on Sunday summoned Ukraine's acting charge d'affaires in Tehran to lodge a formal protest over the incident.

According to Iran's official news agency IRNA, Assistant Foreign Minister and Director General for Eurasia Manouchehr Moradi conveyed Tehran's strong protest, calling the strike on the Iranian commercial vessel a 'hostile and criminal act.'

Moradi said the strike violated the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter, amounted to an act of aggression, and posed 'a clear threat to the security of all littoral states.' He said Ukraine must be held accountable for the incident and those responsible must be punished.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry also said that Tehran 'will firmly defend its national security and interests and will not leave attacks on the lives and property of its citizens unanswered.'

The diplomatic protest followed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's post on X that Ukraine had carried out long-range strikes against military-related targets in Russia, including in the Caspian Sea.

'We also achieved very strong results with long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea - including vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran, as well as a warship,' Zelenskyy said.

In a separate post, Zelenskyy also alleged that Russia had been providing Iran with satellite imagery of Gulf states and US military facilities, claiming the intelligence was used in connection with Iranian strikes.

He said, '... there is a clear correlation between Russia's satellite imagery of these sites and Iranian strikes - both before the attacks, in preparation for them, and afterwards, to assess the damage inflicted.' (ANI)