Throughout the war in Ukraine, Kyiv has had to counter Iranian-designed drones deployed by Moscow. Kyiv has offered its drone interception expertise to countries in the Middle East that have suffered strikes from Iran.
Tehran described the attack on its vessel as an act of aggression and said it would defend its national interests and security, while accusing Kyiv of seeking to expand the war in Ukraine.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine's chargé d'affaires in Tehran to convey its protest over what it described as a "hostile and criminal" attack, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported.
The Iranian denunciation coincided with comments by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Kyiv had noted Russia was passing on its satellite observations in the Middle East to Iran to enable it to direct strikes in the region.
Zelenskiy had earlier said that Ukraine's forces struck a Russian warship and vessels used for transporting Iran-linked military cargo in the Caspian Sea.
The Ukrainian president, in subsequent remarks posted on X, said Kyiv had recorded since the beginning of July "active Russian satellite surveillance of the Gulf states and U.S. military facilities located there. These images subsequently appear in Iran."
"At the same time, there is a clear correlation between Russia's satellite imagery of these sites and Iranian strikes — both before the attacks, in preparation for them, and afterward, to assess the damage inflicted," Zelenskiy said.
He said that on July 19 and 20 alone, Russian satellite observation had included four air bases: two in Bahrain, one in Jordan and one in Kuwait.
