IRAN’S Consul General in Russia Ahmad Heydarian has announced legal action against Ukraine over its drone attack on the Iranian vessel ‘Anna’ in the Caspian Sea on Saturday, which he condemned as ‘an act of aggression’.
Speaking yesterday, Heydarian said arrangements have been made to transfer the body of a sailor killed in the attack back to Iran, and that the rest of the crew will return home once the procedures needed for the legal case are complete.
He said 23-year-old sailor Nima Moradi died from shrapnel wounds in the drone strike. Eight crew members are Iranian nationals and two others are Indian nationals.
He said Russian authorities assisted in the emergency response.
The privately owned Iranian ship ‘Anna’ was struck by a Ukrainian drone on Saturday morning in the Caspian Sea while carrying a cargo of rolled sheet iron.
Iran’s Ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, said the attack was a criminal act, that the vessel was entirely civilian and, contrary to claims, was not carrying any military cargo.
He said the ship had stopped five kilometres from the mouth of the Volga River at the time of the attack to wait out a storm before continuing its route.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Iran has the necessary capabilities to defend its rights, describing Ukraine’s actions as aggressive, and pointing out that the government in Kiev has targeted other countries.
‘Ukraine is attacking various countries. Previously, Ukraine attacked Germany by blowing up a facility of critically important energy infrastructure. Now it has attacked Iran, striking an Iranian vessel.’
The Kremlin spokesman also referred to Ukrainian drone strikes on Caspian Pipeline Consortium facilities, noting that Kazakhstan is a joint owner of the oil pipeline consortium.
Peskov said that Ukraine’s attack on the Iranian vessel represents another escalation by Kiev which could signal an expansion of the geographical scope of the conflict.
- Iran warned yesterday that countries and international companies that receive any compensation payment taken from Iran’s assets frozen abroad will be completely cut off from transit in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran regards a recent announcement by US President Donald Trump about compensating countries and entities for damage inflicted on their ships in the Persian Gulf from Iran’s frozen assets as ‘illegal’.
Ship owners will face consequences if they receive such compensation.
‘…We declare to all companies and countries that welcome Trump’s proposal and use Iran’s blocked assets under this pretext, that from now on, the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will not allow any of their vessels to transit through the Strait of Hormuz,’ said the statement.