Tehran has stressed that its commercial vessel hit by a Ukrainian drone in the Caspian Sea on Saturday was carrying only civilian cargo and vowed to respond appropriately while holding Kyiv responsible for the attack.
Iran's Ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, strongly condemned the strike as a "criminal act", saying the vessel was entirely commercial and carried no military cargo, the state-run IRNA news agency reported on Monday.
"It is justified to expect that Russia will retaliate the fatal attack because it happened when the merchant ship was in Russia’s territorial waters," the envoy said, urging the Kremlin to respond.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X that, during discussions with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, he stressed that the strike, which claimed the life of an Iranian sailor, "cannot remain unanswered."
Meanwhile, the Iranian Embassy in Poland issued a formal warning to the Ukrainian leadership, saying Tehran reserves the right to respond under the United Nations Charter, according to the WANA news agency.
In a statement addressed to Ukraine's president, the mission accused Volodymyr Zelenskyy of attempting to "drag Europe and NATO into a military conflict with Iran".
"Tehran’s restraint is not endless," it warned, accusing the Ukrainian president of exceeding his authority by arming Iran's adversaries during and in the aftermath of the 40-day Israeli-U.S. war against the Islamic Republic.
In Tehran, Deputy Parliament Speaker Hamidreza Hajibabaei warned what he described as Ukraine's "taskmasters" that any mischief by their so-called "contractor" in the Caspian basin would trigger a "painful" response from the Iranian nation.
IRNA reported that the senior MP delivered the warning to Ukraine and the countries he said had "incited" Kyiv to carry out the attack during a parliamentary session on Monday.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei described the attack as "illegitimate and contrary to the UN Charter and international accords", rejecting Kyiv's claim that Tehran is linked to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
Speaking at a weekly press conference on Monday, he added that other Caspian littoral states had expressed deep concern and said Tehran had made clear to Kyiv that it would respond appropriately.
Turkmenistan said Ukraine's attack on an Iranian cargo ship in the Caspian Sea was unacceptable, stressing that the world's largest lake is a sea of peace and good neighbourliness.
"On 25 July 2026, reports were published in the international mass media concerning the attack on a sea-going vessel in the waters of the Caspian Sea. In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan declares about the inadmissibility of such actions," the ministry said in a statement.
"As a Caspian littoral state and the country with a status of permanent neutrality recognised by the United Nations, Turkmenistan underlines that the Caspian Sea is a sea of peace, harmony and good neighbourliness," the statement said.
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Iran has called for a diplomatic solution after U.S. President Donald Trump rejected its Hormuz proposal, while Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran was awaiting a definitive U.S. response through mediators.
A Russian guided aerial bomb has struck an apartment building in Kharkiv, injuring 22 people, including children, according to the city’s mayor. The strike follows a day of near-continuous Russian attacks across Ukraine that killed at least five people.
British police have arrested five men on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act after a major security incident was declared near RAF Fairford, a British air base used by U.S. air forces in Gloucestershire, England.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 28 September 2026. These are the top stories making headlines in technology.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has arrived in Washington for talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on bilateral ties and key regional and international developments, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that more than 8,000 North Korean troops are currently in Russia, with preparations under way to send another 10,000.
Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are warning that gaps in contact tracing and continued deaths outside treatment centres are contributing to a renewed rise in Ebola transmission, as the country’s latest outbreak passes 8,000 confirmed cases.
Hurricane Polo closed in on Mexico's Baja California Sur on Monday evening, threatening its Pacific coastline with destructive wind, flash floods and a storm surge before crossing the peninsula and making a second landfall on the mainland.
The European Union's decision to simultaneously advance accession talks with Ukraine, Moldova, Montenegro and Albania marks its most ambitious enlargement effort in more than two decades.
Taxpayer-funded television advertisements featuring U.S. President Donald Trump are drawing criticism from Republicans and Democrats while legal experts question whether public money can be used for spots resembling campaign messaging ahead of the midterm elections.
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