Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that he wants to avoid opening a “new front” after the armed forces of Ukraine struck an Iranian merchant ship in the Caspian Sea on Saturday.
“You have to be careful. It is necessary to do everything possible so as not to open a new front in any way”, – Zelensky told Britain’s Sky News on Monday. “But we have to be honest: the Iranians and the North Koreans have already attacked us.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine’s diplomatic representative to Tehran on Saturday to condemn Ukraine’s attack on an Iranian ship that killed one sailor and wounded another.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that the attack “cannot go unanswered.”
Security services of Ukraine said the target was “cargo ships that fell under international sanctions and were used to transport military cargo between Iran and Russia.”
Zelensky hinted at attacks on social networks, reporting “very good results of long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea.”
Iran supported Russia’s war in Ukraine by selling drones to Moscow, including the Shahed-136. US officials have also accused Russia of providing intelligence to Iran during the war launched jointly by the United States and Israel on February 28, including focusing on data on US positions in the Middle East.
On Saturday, Zelensky warned that Russia could increase its support for Iran and promised to share evidence with the US
“Since the beginning of July, we have been recording active satellite surveillance from the Russian side of the countries of the Persian Gulf and the US military facilities located there,” – Zelensky. said on X. “These pictures later appear in Iran. At the same time, there is a clear correlation between Russian satellite images of these sites and the Iranian strikes, both before the attacks, in preparation for them, and afterwards to assess the damage caused.
Zelensky is expected to visit Washington this week, but neither his trip nor a possible meeting with President Trump has been confirmed.