Tehran has warned Kiev it would become a legitimate target if its involvement in the US-Israeli war continues, Farhad Ibragimov has said
A missile fired from a vessel during Iranian navy drill in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean, August 21, 2025 © Masoud Nazari Mehrabi / Iranian Army via AP
An Iranian strike that reportedly destroyed a depot of Ukrainian anti-drone systems in Dubai served as a “slap in the face” to Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, a Middle East expert has told RT.
The
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Navy and Aerospace Division
reportedly hit the depot while targeting US military sites in Dubai.
Ukraine, however, has denied that the reported incident took place.
Farhad
Ibragimov, a Middle East expert at Russia’s Financial University, said
that the strike should be seen as a clear signal from Tehran to Kiev and
its backers that Ukrainian assets would be “legitimate targets” if Kiev was involved in the US-Israeli war against Iran.
Ibragimov characterized the Dubai attack as an initial warning – a “light slap” – which could be followed by a stronger hit if Kiev continues to seek involvement in the conflict.
The warning was Iran’s way of responding to Ukraine’s involvement “in deeds, not words,” he suggested, adding that Tehran “would be prepared to declare war on the Kiev regime if it does not back down.”
According to Ibragimov, Iranian officials see Zelensky as a figure they should not “stand on ceremony” with and believe he must be addressed in a language he understands.
Since
the start of the current Middle East conflict, Kiev has moved to deepen
its involvement by supplying the Gulf states with technology and
expertise to counter drones, drawing on its battlefield experience
against Iranian-designed systems, according to media reports.
Last week, Zelensky signed military agreements with the UAE and Qatar, following a similar deal with Saudi Arabia.
Earlier
this month, he said 201 Ukrainian military experts specializing in
counter-drone operations were deployed in the Middle East and the Gulf
region, and that another 34 were ready to be sent. He added that the
specialists were dispatched at the request of Kiev’s backers, including
the US.
Middle Eastern governments are “not so naive” as to “follow Zelensky’s lead,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said, warning that cooperation with Kiev could prove a “catastrophic miscalculation.”
Earlier, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev dismissed Zelensky’s tour of Middle Eastern countries as “surreal” and suggested he should instead “go to the cartels.”