Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani expressed his regret over the Ukrainian government's decision to downgrade its relations with Tehran, and said that this measure was based on the media whirlwind practiced by foreign parties, and based on unconfirmed reports.
Kanaani added - in a statement today, Saturday - that Tehran will take measures that are commensurate with this decision, calling on the Ukrainian government not to be affected by the attempts of "third parties to sabotage bilateral relations."
He pointed out that his country announced its transparent position regarding its rejection of war, and stressed that Tehran is not siding with any of the parties to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and the need to settle this crisis through peaceful means.
He said that the meetings and contacts that Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian held during the past months with the Russian and Ukrainian parties were aimed at helping to solve the crisis.
On Friday, Ukraine announced that it would reduce its diplomatic relations with Iran due to the latter's supply of drones to Russian forces, in a move described by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as "collusion with evil."
"In response to such a hostile act, the Ukrainian side decided to deprive the Iranian ambassador in Ukraine of his credentials, and significantly reduce the number of diplomatic staff at the Iranian embassy in Kyiv," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
She added that the Iranian Chargé d'Affairs in Ukraine - who was summoned to the Foreign Ministry - was informed of this decision.
And press reports had talked about the killing of a Ukrainian on Friday in a Russian attack carried out by "Iranian drones" on the coastal city of Odessa in southern Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian army.
The Ukrainian military said that an Iranian Shahed-136 drone was shot down over the sea during this attack, and an Iranian-made Mohajer-6 drone was shot down in another area.