The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the Charge d'affaires of Ukraine in Tehran and handed him a protest note in connection with the attack on an Iranian merchant ship in the Caspian Sea, IRIB reports.
"As a result of the criminal actions of the Ukrainian army that attacked an Iranian merchant ship in the Caspian Sea, on Saturday evening the Ukrainian Charge d'affaires in Tehran was summoned to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where Assistant Foreign Minister and Director of the Department for Eurasian Affairs, Manuchehr Moradi, conveyed to him Iran's resolute protest against this hostile and criminal act," — the message says.
The Foreign Ministry stressed that Iran will resolutely defend its national security and the interests of the country.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran ... will not leave unanswered attacks on the lives and property of its citizens," the Foreign Ministry noted.
The day before, on July 25, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced an attack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on an Iranian merchant ship in the Caspian Sea. According to the agency, as a result of the strike, one person was killed and one injured. Tehran called the incident a violation of international law and accused Kiev of escalating the conflict.
Earlier, in March, the head of the National security Commission of the Iranian parliament, Ibrahim Azizi, stated that Ukraine could be considered by Tehran as a legitimate target because of Israel's assistance with drones in operations against the Islamic Republic.
"Ukraine actually became involved in the war and, according to Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, turned its entire territory into a legitimate target for Iran," he wrote on the social network X.
Prior to that, Vladimir Zelensky told The New York Times that Kiev had sent interceptor drones and specialists to protect American bases in Jordan from Iranian UAVs. According to him, the request for assistance came from Washington on March 5.
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