Zelenskyy: Every decent person on this planet truly wants the people of Iran to finally free themselves from current regime there
Large-scale protests in Iran are a sign that things won't get any easier for Russia. Every normal person on earth wants the people of Iran to finally be lucky enough to free themselves from the regime that exists there, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“What is happening in Iran now – large-scale protests, effectively an uprising – is a clear sign that things won’t get easier for Russia. And every decent person on this planet truly wants the people of Iran to finally free themselves from the current regime that has brought so much evil to Ukraine and to other countries,” Zelenskyy said in an evening address on Monday.
According to him, it is important that “the world does not miss this moment when changes are possible.”
“Every leader, every country, and international organizations must step in now and help the people remove those guilty of what Iran has sadly become,” Zelenskyy stressed.
Iranian security forces' crackdown on nationwide protests has reportedly left at least 538 people dead, with more presumed dead, and over 10,000 detained over the past two weeks. Of the dead, 490 were protesters and 48 were members of the security forces. Internet and phone restrictions have made it difficult to assess the scale of the protests from abroad, and the Iranian government has not released official casualty figures.
On January 10, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha called on Iranian authorities to refrain from violence against protesters in their country. The leaders of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom also condemned the killings of protesters in Iran in a joint statement and called on the country's authorities to exercise restraint. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed full support for the protesters in Iran and condemned their suppression by Iranian authorities, while US President Donald Trump declared readiness to assist Iran in its quest for freedom. On January 11, US Senator Lindsey Graham declared that the "long night" for Iranians would soon end, and that help was on the way.