Iran called off strikes on Ukraine after Kiev admitted mistake: Senior general
Mohsen Rezaei, advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, said that Iran prepared to strike three locations inside Ukraine in response to an attack on an Iranian ship, but suspended the operation after Kiev claimed the incident was a mistake.
“We were ready to attack three areas in Ukraine,” Rezaei said in a televised interview on Monday, referring to the Ukrainian strike on an Iranian vessel. “But after they claimed it was a mistake, we halted our response to examine their claim. Even if it was a mistake, it still requires compensation.”
The remarks came after an Iranian merchant ship Anna, which was carrying a cargo of iron from the Russian port of Astrakhan to Iran’s Bandar Anzali in the Caspian Sea, came under a Ukrainian attack on July 25. The attack killed one Iranian sailor and injured several others.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on Monday that evidence and statements made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky indicate that the attack in Russian waters was deliberate, despite assurances from the European country's officials that the incident was unintentional.
Ukrainian officials have described the incident as accidental in direct contacts with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and in messages sent to Tehran, he said. “However, the evidence and indications are very clear, including explicit statements by the president of Ukraine, indicating that the attack was deliberate,” he added.
Araghchi in a phone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha said that Kiev should compensate Tehran for the damage caused by the attack.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Rezaei said the United States was defeated midway in what he called US President Donald “Trump’s third war” against Iran, as Iranian forces disrupted American plans, forced the relocation of US command centers, and inflicted heavy casualties, adding another major failure to Washington’s record of setbacks.
Rezaei characterized the recent American aggression as Trump’s third war against Iran, coming after earlier 12-day and 40-day conflicts.
He added that the US is planning for a fourth phase of war against Iran. First, they have plans to create unrest inside the country and then they are trying to involve other countries in the war. He referred to Ukraine's attack on the Iranian ship and Saudi Arabia's participation in the bombing of Iraq as examples of US’s attempts to expand the war in the region.