Iran Condemns Ukraine Attack on Vessel

Iran’s foreign ministry has condemned a Ukrainian attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, saying it resulted in an explosion that killed one sailor and injured another. 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 Zelensky 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. Throughout the war in Ukraine, Kyiv said it has had to counter Iranian-designed drones deployed by Moscow. Ukraine has offered its drone interception expertise to countries in the Middle East that have suffered strikes from Iran.

The US-Iran conflict has escalated in recent days, with US President Donald Trump threatening to resume a full-scale war with Iran if the US does not get what it wants. The president’s latest target is Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, or “Pickaxe Mountain,” a suspected underground facility that lies on the south side of Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment site. The US and Israel bombed several nuclear and military facilities in June 2025 as part of Operation Midnight Hammer, a long-running ambition to thwart Tehran’s nuclear weapons programme.

The Iran war has also spread to the Red Sea and Caspian Sea, with Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis attacking Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast and Iran accusing Ukraine of targeting one of its vessels in the Caspian Sea. The US military said its naval blockade against Iran “remains in full effect” but did not explain why it halted a streak of 13 nights of escalating strikes.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned that Britain would become a “definite and legitimate target” if it supported the US in any war with Tehran. The US military boarded a tanker in the Arabian Sea on Saturday as part of its naval blockade of Iranian ports, and Oman and Iran held “productive” talks over the operation of the Strait of Hormuz. US Vice President JD Vance and Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Dan Caine, raised concerns about escalating the war in Iran during a White House meeting on Friday.

The conflict in Yemen has also intensified, with the Houthis striking sites belonging to Saudi state oil company Aramco in the cities of Jizan and Yanbu on Saturday. A large column of smoke rose from the direction of the Aramco refinery in Jizan, and two missiles aimed at oil installations were intercepted in Yanbu. The refinery can process up to 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily, and two Asia-based trading sources said they had been informed of potential damage to fuel and oil storage sites at Jizan.

The US has decided, for now, to back away from plans to ramp up attacks on Iran, the New York Times said on Saturday, citing two people briefed on the discussion.