"We were prepared to strike three areas in Ukraine, but after Kyiv claimed the incident was a mistake, we suspended the retaliatory operation to evaluate their statement," stated General Mohsen Rezaee, a senior advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, in an interview published by PressTV on 3/8.

Rezaee's comments addressed Ukraine's attack on an Iranian cargo ship in the Caspian Sea on 25/7, which resulted in one sailor's death and several injuries. The Iranian official emphasized that Ukraine is still obligated to provide compensation, even if the incident was accidental.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi previously stated that his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha‎, "assured that the cargo ship attack was unintentional" and that Kyiv had no intention of escalating tensions. Araghchi also demanded compensation from Ukraine for the incident.

According to Foreign Minister Araghchi, Sybiha‎ initially dismissed Iran's retaliatory warnings as "unjustified and baseless." However, he later adopted a conciliatory tone, asserting that Ukraine "never intended to target civilian vessels or civilians."

Ukrainian officials have not commented on the information.

Iranian missiles displayed in Azadi Square in 2/2025. Photo: AFP

On 26/7, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine had achieved "significant results" in a long-range attack in the Caspian Sea. This operation targeted "vessels used to transport Iran-related military goods, as well as a warship."

However, Zelensky did not confirm if the commercial vessel mentioned by Iran was among the targets attacked.

Iran subsequently condemned Ukraine's attack, labeling it an "aggressive, hostile, and criminal act." Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine's charge d'affaires to issue a protest note and warned of retaliation.

Location of the Caspian Sea. Graphics: Britannica

Relations between Tehran and Kyiv have been tense since 2022, when Russia began striking Ukrainian targets with Geran-2 suicide unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are based on the Iranian-developed Shahed-136 model.

Ukraine has also offered to supply unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) interception systems and expert support to Gulf countries facing Iranian retaliation in the Middle East conflict. Concurrently, it deployed anti-UAV experts to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.

Nguyen Tien (According to Tasnim, PressTV, AFP)