Ukraine says it has struck long-range routes moving Russian military equipment linked to Iran, while Zelenskyy claims Moscow gave Tehran satellite data for attacks on US sites in the Middle East.
The battlefield in the war involving Iran is expanding, and with its entry into the dispute via long-range strikes on targets that Kyiv says are linked to the transfer of Russian military equipment to Iran, Ukraine has become one of the new players in this crisis.
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At the same time, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, has claimed that Russia, by providing satellite information to Iran, has helped Tehran target US military facilities in the Middle East.
These developments have added new dimensions to the crisis between Iran and the United States and have tied the confrontation between Tehran and Washington to the war between Russia and Ukraine, putting Moscow's role in supporting Iran back in the spotlight.
In a post on X, the Ukrainian president said that since the beginning of July, Russian satellites have been actively monitoring the Gulf states and US military facilities in the region, and have been handing the images obtained over to Iran.
According to him, there is a "clear correlation" between Russian satellite imagery of these sites and Iranian attacks: both images taken before the attacks during Iran's preparations, and those captured afterwards to assess the damage.
Zelenskyy also claimed that on 19 and 20 July, four air bases, including two in Bahrain, one in Jordan and one in Kuwait, were within the observation range of Russian satellites.
He added that this reality must not be ignored: "Forces of evil are always seeking to make the situation worse and to widen the scope of the crisis."
He went on to say that Russia must be stopped, this war must end, and pressure on the "aggressor state" has to be effective.
Ukraine announced on Saturday that in its long-range attacks it had targeted vessels in the Caspian Sea which, according to Kyiv, were being used to transport military cargo between Iran and Russia.
Iran says that one of the targeted vessels was an Iranian commercial ship and that one sailor was killed and several others were injured in the attack.
On Saturday, in response to Ukraine's strike, Tehran summoned the country's acting chargé d'affaires in Tehran to the foreign ministry to lodge an official protest over the attack.
IRNA reported that during this meeting Iran stressed that "the Islamic Republic will firmly defend its security and national interests and will not leave attacks on the lives and property of its citizens unanswered".
Meanwhile, as Iran's foreign ministry reiterated Tehran's right to respond, some Iranian social media users have been calling for retaliation using the country's Kheibar Shekan ballistic missiles.
In unofficial comments posted online, several users criticised what they described as the Foreign Ministry's "weak diplomacy." One widely shared comment read: "As long as this weak diplomacy remains in government, every fox will see itself as a lion against us."
Other users highlighted the range and capabilities of Iran's missile arsenal, arguing that Tehran should demonstrate its deterrence.
In the same context, former Iranian lawmaker Nezameddin Mousavi reacted to what he described as a Ukrainian military attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea.
Mousavi said: "The response to this fireworks display in the Caspian Sea should be delivered in the Black Sea." He added that Ukraine's alleged action should prompt Iran to reconsider its self-imposed 2,000-kilometre limit on the range of its ballistic missiles.
However, Ukraine has presented a different account of the incident. Ukraine’s Ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, claimed that the vessel targeted by Ukraine in the Caspian Sea on Saturday was carrying components for drones and missiles that were being transported to Iran.
Speaking in an interview with Israel’s N12 on Sunday, Korniychuk rejected Iran’s claim that the ship was carrying civilian cargo, saying Ukraine considers such shipments to be legitimate military targets.
He added that this was not the first time Ukraine had targeted what he described as military supplies linked to Iran, and said Kyiv expects similar operations to continue in the future.
“Israel and Ukraine are fighting the same enemy,” Korniychuk said, describing the two countries as being on “different sides of the same evil axis.”
At the same time, Iran's foreign ministry said that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the attack in a phone call with EU Foreign Chief Kaja Kallas, and called for a response from the UN Security Council, the European Union and the international community.
The call between Araghchi and Kallas took place only two days after the European Union imposed a new round of sanctions on Iran for human rights violations.
On 24 July, Kaja Kallas announced on X that the European Union had introduced new restrictive measures against Iranian judges responsible for "serious human rights violations", including the persecution of political opponents and religious minorities.
Trump: Russia and China will not give weapons to Iran
Zelenskyy's comments came a day after US President Donald Trump said that Russia and China would not supply arms to Iran.
In a post on the social network Truth Social, Trump wrote that Chinese President Xi Jinping had told him during their recent meeting in Beijing that China "under no circumstances" would give or sell weapons to the Islamic Republic of Iran; this also applies to Chinese companies.
Trump also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had assured him that Moscow too would not sell weapons to Iran.
"Therefore, the two countries that are often talked about in relation to their role with Iran, in my view, are not involved in this matter.", Trump added.
Trump meanwhile, warned that if Russia or China were to take such a step, "it would be very bad for them" and "not in their interests".
Trump's remarks stand in contrast to Zelenskyy's allegations that Russia is helping Iran through satellite intelligence.
Moscow and Beijing have so far not issued an official response to the Ukrainian president's claims.