Tehran considered hitting three Ukrainian targets, official claims

Mohsen Rezaei, a senior adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader, has claimed that Tehran prepared to launch strikes on three sites in Ukraine before canceling the operation after what he described as an "apology" from Kyiv.

Rezaei said the planned retaliation was in response to a July 25 Ukrainian strike on a vessel transporting military cargo between Iran and Russia across the Caspian Sea, Caliber.Az reports, citing Ukrainian media.

"We were set to strike three sites in Ukraine, but canceled the attack following Ukraine's apology," Rezaei said.

Iran condemned the Ukrainian strike as "an act of aggression" and warned that it "cannot go unanswered."

Following the operation, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) confirmed that the vessel had been operating while evading international sanctions.

The diplomatic tensions appeared to ease after Acting Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha held a telephone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on July 28. According to Araghchi, Ukraine said the strike had been unintentional, and Tehran was not seeking further escalation.

For his part, Sybiha described the exchange as a "frank conversation."

"I reiterated that all of Ukraine's actions are aimed solely at defending our country from Russian aggression and never intended to target civilian vessels or people," Sybiha said after Tehran protested the operation.

Relations between Ukraine and Iran have remained deeply strained since Tehran began supplying Shahed drones to Russia in 2022 and later authorized their production inside Russia, making Iran one of Moscow's principal military partners during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

By Vafa Guliyeva