Iran Claims It Was Ready to Strike Ukraine
A senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader revealed that Tehran had planned retaliation for an attack on a ship, while the US and Iran report progress in talks on the Strait of Hormuz.
A senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader revealed that Tehran had planned retaliation for an attack on a ship, while the US and Iran report progress in talks on the Strait of Hormuz.
Mohsen Rezaei, a senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader, stated that Iran was prepared to attack three locations in Ukraine but abandoned the plan after Kyiv issued an apology. The statement was reported by Iran's state-run Press TV and carried by Index.hr.
The planned retaliation was in response to a Ukrainian attack on July 25, 2026, on a ship carrying military cargo between Iran and Russia across the Caspian Sea. Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) reported that the targeted vessel had been operating in circumvention of international sanctions. "We were ready to strike three locations in Ukraine, but we called off the attack after Ukraine's apology," Rezaei emphasized.
Tehran condemned the Ukrainian attack as "an act of aggression" and stated that it "cannot go unanswered." Tensions appeared to ease after Ukraine's acting Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha spoke by phone with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on July 28, 2026.
During the call, Araghchi said that Ukraine had described the attack as unintentional and that Tehran did not seek further escalation. Sybiha, for his part, said he had an "open conversation" with his Iranian counterpart. "I reiterated that all of Ukraine's actions are aimed solely at defending our country against Russian aggression and have never been directed against civilian vessels or people," Sybiha said.
Relations between Ukraine and Iran have remained strained since Tehran began supplying Russia with Shahed drones in 2022 and later granted a license for their production on Russian territory. This made Iran one of Moscow's key military partners during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on August 4, 2026, that progress had been made in talks with Iran and Oman on increasing commercial shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, but a final agreement had not yet been reached. "There has been progress in those talks, but there is no final solution yet. We hope that will happen very soon," Rubio told reporters at the State Department, as reported by the Jerusalem Post.
Qatar's Foreign Ministry confirmed that Qatar and Pakistan are cooperating with Oman to facilitate communication between Iran and the US. Qatar's Prime Minister's adviser and official Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Dr. Majid bin Mohammed Al-Ansari, said on Tuesday that the goal of regional efforts is to ease tensions enough to allow for the resumption of direct dialogue between the US and Iran.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump accused Iran's leadership of sending mixed signals regarding diplomacy, saying that Tehran privately seeks negotiations to end the conflict while publicly denying them. He reiterated that pressure on the country would continue unless it agrees to a deal or what he called "complete surrender."
In recent weeks, the US and Iran have exchanged military strikes, with Washington targeting sites inside Iran and Tehran responding with attacks on what it described as US military facilities and equipment in several Arab countries, particularly Jordan, Bahrain, and Kuwait, as reported by Daily Sabah. The escalation followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding in June 2026 and the launch of negotiations on a final agreement. Talks later stalled over disagreements on security guarantees and freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most critical routes for energy supply and global trade.
