TEHRAN – Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Sunday said Ukraine's attack on an Iranian commercial ship in the Caspian Sea "cannot go unanswered".

In a post on the social media platform X, Araghchi accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of ordering "a blatant UN Charter violation done at Israel's behest to drag Europe into its war".

He said he had "made clear that what the freeloader in Kyiv did CANNOT GO UNANSWERED" in phone calls with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, the attack took place at 3:00 am local time on Saturday (2330 GMT on Friday) and led to the vessel's explosion as well as a sailor's death.

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The semi-official Mehr news agency on Sunday reported that three sailors were also injured in the attack.

Citing Governor of Iran's northern Gilan province Hadi Haghshenas, it said that the steel-laden vessel was en route from Russia's Astrakhan Port to Iran's Anzali Port in Gilan when it came under attack.

The ship's bridge was destroyed, leaving it unable to continue its voyage, Haghshenas said, adding that the incident would be pursued through domestic and international legal channels.

Zelensky said on Saturday that his country's forces had hit a Russian warship and vessels used for transporting Iran-linked military cargo in the Caspian Sea.

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During the phone call on Sunday, Araghchi and Lavrov condemned Ukraine's "illegal" attack on the Iranian commercial ship, according to Iran's Foreign Ministry.

Araghchi condemned Ukraine's move as a "dangerous adventurism and clear violation of the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter", stressing that Iran would decisively defend its national security and interests, the ministry said in a statement.

Lavrov, for his part, denounced the attack as an "action in violation of international law and a threat against the trade routes between Russia and Iran", the statement added.

The two ministers also discussed regional developments following what Tehran described as the US "breach of promises and imposition of insecurity on the Strait of Hormuz", according to the statement.