MOSCOW, July 27. /TASS/. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, that Tehran reserves the right to respond to Kiev’s attack on an Iranian merchant ship in the Caspian Sea, Iranian Ambassador to Russian Kazem Jalali said, commenting on a phone call between the two top diplomats.

"Yesterday, Araghchi and Lavrov held a phone call that focused largely on this topic. Our foreign minister stressed that Iran reserves the unalienable right to respond," he said.

The Russian foreign ministry said on July 26 that Lavrov and Araghchi spoke over the phone to discuss the situation around Ukraine’s attack on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea. The top Russian diplomat offered condolences over the death of an Iranian sailor while his Iranian counterpart "stressed the need to put a stop to the Kiev regime’s reckless actions."

On July 25, the Iranian foreign ministry said that Ukraine had struck an Iranian merchant ship in the Caspian Sea, leaving one crew member dead.