The Iranian army had prepared to strike three targets in Ukraine following an attack on an Iranian commercial ship in the Caspian Sea, said Mohsen Rezaei, a senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader.
„We were ready to hit three targets in Ukraine, but we canceled the attack after Ukraine’s apologies,” Rezaei said, according to Ukrainska Pravda.
On July 25, Iran accused Ukraine of attacking an Iranian commercial ship in the Caspian Sea. Tehran described the attack on the ship as an act of aggression and accused Kyiv of trying to escalate the conflict in Ukraine.
The Iranian Foreign Minister specified that the explosion on board the ship killed one sailor and injured another, and issued a threat directed at President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Prior to this, Zelensky had announced "very strong results from long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea."
"We achieved very strong results with long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea, including ships used for military transport involving Iran," he wrote on social media X.
Zelensky did not provide further details, such as whether those ships were carrying cargo at the time of the attack or if they had only been previously used for transports to Iran.
In response to Iran's threats, Zelensky stated that Iran and North Korea had attacked Ukraine by supplying weapons, military technology, and soldiers to Russia.
Later, on July 28, the Ukrainian Acting Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, had a phone conversation with the Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, and reiterated Ukraine's intention to avoid further escalation.