Ukraine's Zelensky meets with Iran’s ex-crown prince Reza Pahlavi
"We discussed the importance of strengthening sanctions against the Iranian regime and any other dictatorial regimes," said Zelensky, adding that both condemned cooperation between Russia and Iran
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting with Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah and a prominent opposition voice, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
"We discussed the importance of strengthening sanctions against the Iranian regime and any other dictatorial regimes," said Zelensky, adding that both condemned cooperation between Russia and Iran.
Last month, Zelensky condemned the Islamic Republic's deadly crackdown on protesters, which garnered him a furious rebuke from Iran’s top diplomat.
"There was so much talk about the protests in Iran — but they drowned in blood. The world has not helped enough the Iranian people, it has stood aside," he said in Davos. "What will Iran become after this bloodshed? If the regime survives, it sends a clear signal to every bully — kill enough people, and you stay in power."
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi weighed in with bilious rage in an English-language post on the X platform, charging the Ukrainian president had been “rinsing American and European taxpayers to fill the pockets of his corrupt generals.”
Zelensky "openly and unashamedly calls for unlawful U.S. aggression against Iran," Araghchi fumed, taking a swipe at the Ukrainian president's previous career as a comic actor: “The world has had enough of Confused Clowns, Mr. Zelensky.”
Iran's opposition is fragmented among rival groups and ideological factions and the extent of its organized presence inside the Islamic Republic is unclear, despite the profound unpopularity of the mullah regime with the vast majority of Iranians.