Iran’s rulers call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “clown,” a Western puppet, and the leader of a criminal gang. Yet the intensity of their response suggests something different. After a Ukrainian strike in the Caspian Sea hit an Iranian commercial vessel, regime officials and media outlets issued threats and debated retaliation. Some urged Tehran to punish European governments supporting Kyiv. For a leader they claim to dismiss, President Zelensky commands a remarkable amount of the Islamic Republic’s attention.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Tehran’s concern is not President Zelensky’s rhetoric. It is Ukraine’s ability to impose costs on the military partnership between the regime and Russia. The regime supplied Russia with Shahed drones and the technology to manufacture them. It then claimed it was not a party to Russia’s war. President Zelensky rejects that fiction. By providing weapons used against Ukraine, the regime entered the conflict on Moscow’s side. Russia has launched thousands of Shahed-type drones against Ukrainian homes, power stations, and other civilian infrastructure. Some were manufactured in Iran. Others are Russian-produced Gerans based on Iranian designs. They allow Moscow to sustain a relentless bombing campaign at relatively low cost. Kyiv therefore has a clear interest in imposing costs on the military network supporting that campaign. Its target should be the regime’s military machinery and partnership with Russia – not the Iranian people, who have no say in either.