Sailor Killed in Ukrainian Attack in the Caspian Sea

Iran on Saturday condemned a Ukrainian attack on its merchant ship in the Caspian Sea, which the Iranian ministry of foreign affairs said killed one sailor and injured another.

Tehran described the incident as an act of aggression and accused Kyiv of trying to expand the war beyond Ukraine's borders, while vowing to defend its national interests and security.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had earlier said Ukrainian forces struck a Russian warship and vessels transporting military cargo linked to Iran in the Caspian Sea.

Zelensky also accused Russia of supplying Iran with satellite imagery of the Middle East to help plan attacks. Writing on the social media platform X, he said Ukraine had detected intense Russian satellite monitoring of Gulf states and US military bases in the region since early July.

He claimed the images subsequently reach Iran and that there is a direct link between Russian reconnaissance and Iranian attacks, citing as an example the monitoring of four air bases in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait on 19 and 20 July.

(Reuters, est)