Iran to hit war-battered Ukraine next? Lawmaker says drone aid to Israel makes Kyiv ‘legitimate’ target

Ebrahim Azizi, the head of Iran’s parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, hinted on Saturday, March 14, that Ukraine could be the next target for Iran, accusing Kyiv of providing drone support to Israel. Israel, with support from the United States, launched strikes against Iran on February 28 that killed the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Since the start of the conflict in the West Asia, Iran has targeted seven other countries, in the Middle East, accusing them of providing assistance to the United States.

In a post on X, Ebrahim Azizi said that by providing drone support to Israel, Ukraine has “effectively become involved in the war.”

He said, “By providing drone support to the Israeli regime, failed Ukraine has effectively become involved in the War and, under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, has turned its entire territory into a legitimate target for Iran."

Ukraine is already being battered by Russia for the past four years after Moscow announced a special military operation, targeting Kyiv and other parts of the country relentlessly. Since then, hundreds have displaced in the conflict.

After nearly two weeks of war between US-Israel and Iran, 2,000 people have been killed, most in Iran, but many in Lebanon and a growing number in the Gulf, which has for the first time in decades of Middle East conflicts found itself on the front line.

While Iran has apologised to the neighbouring countries it has hit, Tehran has also justified the attacks on the countries, the territories were being used by the United States and Israel as launchpads for strikes.

Several million people have been displaced from their homes. As Israeli warplanes pounded Beirut's suburbs with air strikes, Lebanon's interior minister said authorities were unable to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of people who have sought refuge in the capital.

An Iranian spokesperson, Fatemeh Mohajerani, mentioned that the damaged structures from the strikes included 36,469 residential units and 6,179 commercial facilities, according to state-run IRNA news agency.

Iran has also suffered military damages and casualties, but hasn't provided any information about the losses.

The war has, however, taken a heavy toll on women and girls. On the first day of the conflict, a US strike hit a girls' school that killed dozens. So far, as many as 223 women and girls have been killed, and 2,129 others wounded. Fatemeh Mohajerani didn't provide an overall death toll, but previously, authorities have said that 1,230 people have been killed.

(With agency inputs)