Ahead of possible US strikes, Zelensky backs action against Iran's regime, 'not against the people'

As U.S.-Iran tensions mount, President Volodymyr Zelensky voiced support for action targeting Iran's regime but not its people, according to a Sky News interview published Feb. 27.

The Ukrainian leader said he believes the Iranian people are seeking help in overthrowing the current regime, which behaves aggressively toward other countries and is a source of harm.

He added that diplomatic talks between the U.S. and Iran remain the better way forward.

The comments come amid mounting speculations about an imminent U.S. strike against Iran as talks in Geneva about Tehran's nuclear program this week failed to achieve a breakthrough.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he prefers a diplomatic solution but "will never allow the world's number one sponsor of terror... to have a nuclear weapon."

The U.S. and the U.K. have begun withdrawing some embassy staff from the region ahead of possible strikes. Since January, Washington has carried out a rapid military buildup in the Middle East, amassing its largest force in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Recent days also saw U.S. officials make unproven claims about Iran developing a missile capable of striking U.S. territory and having enough material to build a nuclear bomb within days.

Last June, the U.S. carried out strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities, an operation Trump described as "very successful."

Tehran has denied plans to build a nuclear bomb.

"Iran will under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon; neither will we Iranians ever forgo our right to harness the dividends of peaceful nuclear technology for our people," Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Feb. 24.

"We have proven that we will stop at nothing to guard our sovereignty with courage."

The latest tensions follow a brutal crackdown by the Iranian regime against mass protests during the winter, leaving thousands of civilians dead.