🔻Iraqchi called Zelensky a “freeloader” and said Ukraine’s drone attack would not go unanswered

🔻Iraqchi called Zelensky a “freeloader” and said Ukraine’s drone attack would not go unanswered

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian? No. Abbas Iraqchi, Iran’s foreign minister, in response to last night’s attack by Ukraine on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, described Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, as a “freeloader based in Ukraine” and said that the attack would not go unanswered.

Mr. Iraqchi, in a post on the X social network, wrote that he raised the issue in separate phone calls with Kaya Kallas, the EU foreign policy chief, and Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister.

Mr. Iraqchi wrote on X: “Zelensky attacked an Iranian commercial vessel and killed a sailor. This is clearly a violation of the United Nations Charter and has been carried out at Israel’s instigation to drag Europe into a war.”

Last night, in the Caspian Sea, an Iranian commercial vessel was targeted by Ukraine’s drone attacks.

In a statement as well published on the website of Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Lavrov extended condolences to his Iranian counterpart over the death of a sailor in the attack.

Mr. Lavrov said that in his phone call, Mr. Iraqchi thanked local officials in the Astrakhan region of Russia—where the vessel’s journey had begun—for their assistance to the ship’s crew and emphasized the necessity of putting an end to such “adventures” by the government of Ukraine.

The Russian foreign ministry statement also said that Mr. Iraqchi briefed Mr. Lavrov on the “continuation of diplomatic efforts aimed at reducing tensions in the Middle East.”