Iran supreme leader Khamenei accuses US of 'managing' bombing of Gaza

TEHRAN, IRAN - APRIL 22: Ali Khamenei Iran supreme leader speaking and praying for Eid Al-Fitr (The religious holiday is celebrated by Muslims worldwide because it marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan) at Mosalla mosque on April 22, 2023 in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Sadegh Nikgostar ATPImages/Getty Images)

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the United States is complicit in alleged war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza.

"The U.S. is definitely an accomplice of the criminals," Khamenei said during a speech in Tehran. "In other words, in this crime the U.S.'s hand is drenched and stained up to its elbow with the blood of the oppressed, the children, the sick, women and others."

He went on to accuse the U.S. of "managing the crime that is being committed in Gaza." 

Khamenei insisted that the Palestinians will ultimately prevail in the war against Israel, which started when Hamas infiltrated the Jewish state on Oct. 7 and brutally tortured, raped, killed and dismembered as many as 1,400 Israeli civilians. 

The United States has supported Israel's right to self-defense and the bombing campaign to eradicate Hamas while calling for humanitarian aid to be delivered to the Palestinian people caught in the crossfire in Gaza. The U.S. has moved two aircraft carriers into the eastern Mediterranean to deter Iran-backed terrorist groups like Hezbollah from joining the war on the side of Hamas.