Iran-Ukraine relations have sharply escalated in recent hours, even leading to the fact that Iran threatens to give a military response to Ukraine.

Recently, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, announced that the Ukrainian forces attacked ships carrying military cargo from Iran to Russia, as well as a Russian warship in the Caspian Sea. “We have very good results from long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea. They were ships that participated in transporting military cargo from Iran, and one warship,” Zelensky wrote on his Telegram channel.

On July 25, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced that Ukraine attacked an Iranian commercial ship in the Caspian Sea, as a result of which one of the crew members was killed. According to Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Kiev took that step at the behest of Israel in order to involve Europe in the war in the Middle East.

According to the Iranian state agency IRNA, Ukraine’s Chargé d’affaires in Tehran was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, where the Iranian side expressed its complaint regarding the “hostile and criminal” attack, as described by Tehran.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran strongly condemned the attack of the “Ukrainian regime” against the Iranian merchant ship in the Caspian Sea. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran assessed this as a violation of Article 2, Clause 4 of the Charter of the United Nations and an example of an act of aggression that could further fuel the war.

Emphasizing that Iran has never intervened in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Islamic Republic of Iran drew the attention of the UN Security Council, European countries and all UN members to the obvious fact that the Ukrainian regime, by attacking an Iranian merchant ship, not only committed an international violation, but also dangerously seeks to fan the flames of war and instability.

“Any party concerned about peace and security in Eastern Europe and adjacent regions must take a responsible stance against these dangerous actions by the Ukrainian regime and hold the Ukrainian government accountable for its criminal and provocative actions.”

Iran will not hesitate to defend its national interests and security in accordance with the fundamental principles and norms of international law, especially the principle of self-defense. It is obvious that the consequences of the adventure of the head of the Ukrainian regime will be borne by that regime, its supporters and instigators,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.

Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the National Security Committee of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis), stated that Iran will not leave Ukraine’s actions unanswered.

“For every attack on Iran, you always have to pay, this is also relevant today. The USA and Israel are already well aware of this. Perhaps, Ukraine will also soon understand that Iran does not leave such steps unanswered. The list of those who made a wrong calculation continues to be added,” he wrote in X.

In one of his interviews following the incident, the leader of Ukraine stated that Iran has already attacked Ukraine by supplying weapons to Russia.

“We have to be careful. We must do everything in order not to open a new front under any circumstances. But we must be honest. Iranians and North Koreans have already attacked us,” Zelensky said in an interview with Sky News.

He expressed hope that “they will not intensify these attacks”, but stressed that Kyiv is ready for anything.

“We cannot trust those people (Iranians), because at the very beginning, without any escalation on our part, the Iranians supplied weapons,” added the President of Ukraine. Earlier, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky told The New York Times that Kiev sent interceptor ATS and specialists to protect American military bases in Jordan from Iranian ATS.

On July 26, at the initiative of the Iranian side, a telephone conversation between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran Abbas Araghchi took place. “The Russian minister expressed sincere condolences regarding the death of an Iranian sailor, which took place on July 25 as a result of the attack carried out by Ukrainian drones on the dry cargo ship “Ana” owned by Iran. the ship left Astrakhan with civilian cargo.

Lavrov asked the relatives and friends of the victim to convey words of support and wished the victims a speedy recovery. Aragchi thanked the Astrakhan authorities for providing assistance to the crew of the attacked ship and emphasized the need to prevent similar adventures of the Kiev regime.

The head of Iran’s Foreign Ministry informed Lavrov about the ongoing diplomatic efforts aimed at de-escalating tensions in the Middle East and caused by the United States’ attack on the Islamic Republic,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Russian military and political analyst Alexander Khramchikhin believes that the incident in the Caspian Sea is a clear evidence of a process called geopolitical fusion.

According to him, the Middle East and Eastern Europe are not separate, independent geographical areas where conflicts take place in isolation. they have evolved into a unified security system, the interconnectedness is too great.

According to him, the targeting of supply chains is also a component of the war. In Ukraine, he said, they are convinced that Russia’s military resilience depends largely on external logistics, particularly on cooperation with Iran. However, according to him, the role of the relationship between Ukraine and the West is even greater here, and this was not so much a military incident, but a political one.

“The direct and synchronous response of the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Iranian Foreign Ministry is also the result of this connection. Moscow and Tehran realize that any action against them in the Caspian Sea or in the Middle East has one common root: a global conflict with the West.” 168.amhe said in a conversation with

Khramchikhin believes that this incident breaks the stereotype that regional wars can remain isolated.

“The Middle East and Ukraine are not independent directions. through military technology, logistics, and alliance ties, they were woven into a single thread. However, I don’t think that this will become a reason for further expansion of the situation, maybe Iran will respond, as promised, but currently neither Ukraine nor Iran needs expansion,” he said.

According to him, this also means for the South Caucasus that no region is cut off from the current geopolitical developments.

According to him, conflicts currently do not have clear borders, because if there is a militarized struggle in one region, it has a different, intense political nature in other regions.

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