Tehran-Kiev war of words heats up, Iran calls Zelensky a ‘delusional clown’

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has hit back at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s recent comments that the Iranian government is killing people to stay in power. He called Zelensky a ‘delusional clown’ and accused the Ukrainian leader of ‘lining the pockets of his corrupt generals with US and European taxpayers’ money.’

In a post on social media, Araghchi wrote, ‘The world is tired of delusional clowns, Mr. Zelensky’. He added that Iranians know how to defend themselves and ‘have no need to beg for help from foreigners.’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has been under full-scale Russian aggression for nearly four years, said on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos that if Iran’s religious leadership can stay in power, it will be a “clear message to every authoritarian ruler.” “What will happen to Iran after this bloodshed? If this government survives, it will send a clear message to every authoritarian ruler that you can stay in power by killing people,” Zelensky said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is a close ally of Iran. The two countries decided to further strengthen bilateral relations just last week. Ukraine and the West have accused Iran of supplying Russia with drones and ballistic missiles for use in Ukraine. Tehran has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Zelensky also strongly criticized Western countries’ inaction over the deaths in Iran. In his speech in English, he said, “There was a lot of talk about the Iranian protests, but they were drowned in blood. The world did not help the Iranian people enough, but stood aside.”

He said that before politicians returned to work after the Christmas and New Year holidays, “the ayatollahs had killed thousands of people.” Iranian authorities said that more than 3,000 people had died in the protests against the Islamic Republic. However, they claimed that the violence was instigated by the United States and Israel.

On the other hand, human rights groups say that the death toll could be much higher — up to 20,000. According to them, the real number has been very difficult to confirm because of the two-week internet shutdown in Iran.

News NDTV