Iran Called off Ukraine Strikes after Kiev’s Apology 

By Staff, Agencies 

Iran called off retaliatory strikes against Ukraine over last month’s attack on a cargo ship in the Caspian Sea after Kiev apologized, a senior adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution His Eminence Ayatollah Sayyed Mojtaba Khamenei has said.

On July 25, Ukraine struck the Iranian vessel with drones, killing one sailor, and claimed that it was transporting military equipment to Russia. Iran said the ship was carrying civilian cargo and denounced the attack as an act of aggression. Russia identified the vessel as the dry cargo ship Ana.

Islamic Revolutionary Guards [IRG] Major General Mohsen Rezaee said on Monday that Tehran had selected targets in Ukraine. “We were set to strike three sites in Ukraine, but canceled the attack following Ukraine’s apology,” Rezaee said.

According to Fars, Rezaee affirmed that Kiev had claimed that it attacked the ship by mistake and that Iran had decided to investigate the claim. “Even if it was a mistake, however, there will still be consequences,” he said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said earlier that his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrey Sibiga, had assured him during a phone call that the attack on the ship “was unintentional and Ukraine seeks no escalation.” Araghchi demanded compensation for the incident.

Sibiga initially dismissed Iran’s threats of retaliation as “unjustified and groundless,” but later struck a conciliatory tone, saying that Kiev had “never intended to target civilian vessels or people.”

Russia described the attack on the ship as illegal under international law and accused Ukraine of attempting to “expand the geography of its terrorist activities.”