The two countries enjoyed a generally cordial relationship with each other until January 2020, when Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, killing all of the 176 civilians onboard.

[8][9] On 8 January 2020, the Iranian military accidentally shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, straining relations between the two countries.

On 11 January, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the Iranian government to bring those responsible for the plane crash to justice and to discuss the issue of compensation.

[18] Despite blaming NATO and the United States for instigating the war, the Iranian government called for a political solution to the conflict.

On 27 February 2022, a group of Iranians assembled outside of the Ukrainian Embassy in Tehran on Saturday to protest the Russian invasion, where they chanted "Death to Putin", until they were dispersed by the police.

[19][20] Iranian politicians such as reformist Sadegh Zibakalam, former presidents Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Mohammad Khatami and diplomat Seyed Hossein Mousavian have condemned the invasion and offered support to Ukraine.

[20][21][22] Due to the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite its official neutral stance, is supplying Russia with drones that are used for attacks in Ukraine, Ukraine's president Zelensky announced in September 2022 that the accreditation of the Iranian ambassador will be revoked and the number of diplomatic staff of the Iranian embassy in Kyiv significantly reduced.

[4] In July 2023, following the Three Islands (Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs) dispute between Iran and the United Arab Emirates, Russian diplomats called for negotiations on the status of the islands near the Strait of Hormuz that Iran considers its own which are also contested by the United Arab Emirates.

In a retaliatory attempt, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian issued a statement that Iran supports Ukraine's territorial integrity.