Turkmenistan has criticized an attack on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea that the Iranian government blamed on Ukraine.
In a statement on Monday, Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred to media reports of an attack on a ship in the Caspian on July 25 and described “such actions” as unacceptable.
“As a Caspian littoral state and the country with a status of permanent neutrality recognized by the United Nations, Turkmenistan underlines that the Caspian Sea is a sea of peace, harmony and good-neighborliness,” the ministry said, without specifically referring to Ukraine or Iran.
The Caspian Sea is critical to Turkmenistan´s ambition to play a larger role in the Middle Corridor, a trade network linking Asia and Europe via Central Asia and the Caucasus.
Iran had blamed Ukraine for the attack that it said resulted in an explosion on an Iranian commercial vessel, killing one sailor and injuring another. It described the attack as “an act of aggression that could further inflame and expand the ongoing conflict.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the Ukrainian military’s deep strike range is more than 3,000 kilometers, indicating that the Caspian Sea is within reach.
“We also have very good results from long-range strikes in the waters of the Caspian Sea,” Zelenskyy said on July 25. “In particular, these are vessels that were involved in transporting military cargo from Iran, and a warship.”
Iran has provided drone technology to Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The attack in the Caspian Sea comes amid heightened Mideast tension and open conflict between Iran and the United States.
Earlier in July, Kazakhstan had condemned drone strikes on oil infrastructure in the Black Sea that is critical to Kazakhstan’s energy exports. Ukraine has said it was targeting Russian interests in the Black Sea.
On July 25, in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called for a freeze of the Russia-Ukraine war in some of his strongest comments about ending the fighting.
