Khamenei slams US support for ‘child-killing zionists’

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei scoffs at the US’s claim of support for human rights, pointing to its contumacious backing of Israel as proof of Washington’s hypocrisy.

“They (the US) support the child-killer Zionist regime and regional allies which aren’t familiar with and don’t understand elections at all,” he says, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

American support for Saudi Arabia, which is bombing Iran-backed rebels in Yemen, also takes the brunt of Khamenei’s tongue lashing.

He also tells Iranian officials to be wary of Americans who commit war crimes before they “smile and talk to you,” according to the report.

Despite talk of a possible detente between Washington and Tehran following the landmark nuclear deal, ties have remained chilly and rhetoric at times heated between the two countries.