Iran launched a blistering attack against Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, calling him a “confused clown” for urging action against Tehran over its handling of recent protests.
The reaction came as US President Donald Trump said an “armada” of American warships was heading towards the Middle East amid mounting tensions with Tehran.
Mr Zelenskyy “has been rinsing American and European taxpayers to fill the pockets of his corrupt generals”, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X, accusing the Ukrainian leader of seeking unlawful US aggression against Iran, an ally of Russia, in breach of the UN Charter.
“The world has had enough of confused clowns, Mr Zelenskyy,” he added. “Unlike your foreign-backed and mercenary-infested military, we Iranians know how to defend ourselves and have no need to beg foreigners for help.”
In an address at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Mr Zelenskyy accused the international community of abandoning the Iranian people during the nationwide protests. The war of words came as Mr Trump announced a major US military move towards the Middle East “just in case”.
“We have a lot of ships going that direction,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One after leaving Davos. “We have an armada heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it.”
US officials said the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and several guided-missile destroyers would arrive in the region in the coming days, alongside additional air defence systems to protect American bases from any Iranian retaliation.
Tensions have intensified after a sweeping regime crackdown on protests across Iran. Last June, the US struck Iranian nuclear sites and Mr Trump has warned that Washington would act again if Tehran sought to restart its nuclear programme. “If they try to do it again, we'll hit them there too, just as easily,” he said.
Mr Trump also claimed his threats forced Tehran to halt the mass execution of detained protesters. He said Iran cancelled nearly 840 hangings after he warned of severe retaliation. “It will make what we did to your nuclear programme look like peanuts,” he said.
Meanwhile, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned on Thursday that they have “their hands on the trigger” in the event of a “miscalculation” by Mr Trump.
IRGC chief Maj Gen Mohammad Pakpour said the US and Israel would face a “more painful fate” than that during the 12-day war with Israel last year if they attacked Tehran.
Iranian officials have repeatedly accused “foreign-backed rioters” of hijacking peaceful demonstrations. They have also blamed the deaths of civilians and security personnel on “atrocities orchestrated by the US and Israeli regime”.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said it had verified 5,002 deaths linked to the regime's clampdown, including 4,714 protesters. Almost 10,000 more deaths are under review amid an ongoing internet blackout that has entered its third consecutive week, with only limited connectivity in some areas, said Hrana.
An Iranian official told Reuters that confirmed deaths from the unrest exceeded 5,000, including 500 members of the security forces. When asked how many protesters had been killed, Mr Trump replied: “Nobody knows. It’s a lot, no matter what.”
