Zelenskiy: Iranian changes must be properly exploited

(Patria) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that changes in Iran caused by US and Israeli strikes should be "properly exploited" for the benefit of the people in the country who have resisted the violence of their authorities, Reuters reported.

Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said that Iranian authorities have killed "tens of thousands of people in just the last few months," referring to the crackdown on protests.

Iran, he said, "predetermined how it would be treated" by supplying Russia with combat drones in Moscow's four-year war in Ukraine, and "fostered wars in the region."

"It is important that this chance for change in Iran is properly exploited," he said. "The Iranian people have been alone for a long time, suffering violence while opposing the Iranian regime."

He reiterated his claim, made on Saturday after the start of the strikes, that US determination "brings results."

Zelenskiy thanked "everyone who is trying to prevent the spread of war" and said that Russia should pay attention to what happened to Iranian leaders so that "justice is finally served."

Zelenskiy said on Saturday that Moscow has fired more than 57,000 Iranian-made Shahed-type drones at Ukraine during the war.