Iran’s government is seeking reparations from Ukraine after a July incident in the Caspian Sea involving an Iranian ship.
Ukraine has stated the event was unintentional, yet President Volodymyr Zelensky hinted that the vessel was allegedly transporting Iranian drone weapons intended for Russia’s military operations against Ukraine.
Occurring on July 25, the incident involved a drone attack by Ukraine in the Caspian Sea. It was initially reported by Ukraine as targeting two Russian ships believed to be carrying “military cargo from Iran.”
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Iran countered, claiming one of the targeted vessels was a civilian ship carrying iron from Russia to Iran. The strike reportedly resulted in the death of one sailor and injuries to two others on board.
Iran was infuriated by what it called a “hostile and criminal” act of “terrorism,” summoning the Ukrainian charge d’affaires in Tehran to lodge a formal protest. The Iranians accused Ukraine of attempting to connect the Russia-Ukraine war to the U.S.-Iran conflict and drag European powers into the latter.
Zelensky stood by the attack at first, adding that not only was Iran supplying Russia with drone weapons, but Russia was reciprocating by providing Iran with “active Russian satellite surveillance of the Gulf states and U.S. military facilities located there.”
“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 afterward, to assess the damage inflicted,” he said.
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Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, claimed the Iranian ship was ferrying drone and missile components from Iran to Russia, not civilian cargo.
On July 28, the leftist newspaper New York Times (NYT) reported that Iran contemplated launching a ballistic missile at a Ukrainian seaport in retaliation, intended to “make a symbolic point but cause relatively little damage.”
The Iranians were reportedly talked down from this retaliatory action by diplomats, who warned that Ukraine’s response to a missile attack might be more than Tehran bargained for. Some Ukrainian analysts also felt it would be a mistake for Kyiv to get embroiled in another conflict while it was still fending off the Russian invasion.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had a phone conversation with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who told him the strike on the cargo ship was “unintentional.” Sybiha had previously dismissed Araghchi’s accusations against Ukraine as “Iranian lies” in a social media post.
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On August 10, Iran jolted the uneasily resolved dispute back to life by dismissing Ukraine’s claim of accidental targeting, and demanding reparations for the cargo ship bombing.
“We still believe that we have not been convinced by the Ukrainian side’s claim that this action was unintentional,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei.
“They must certainly compensate us. Naturally, if they do not compensate us, we will seek compensation ourselves,” he said.
Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, said on Wednesday that Ukraine has not paid reparations for its “act of terrorism” yet, but “negotiations” are still in progress.
“Ukraine’s European and American supporters must also accept their responsibility for Kyiv’s actions and hold them accountable,” he added.