Iran president says US accomplice in Israel 'crimes'
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi speaks to the crowds, gathered to protest in Tehran in support of Palestinians in Gaza on October 18, 2023. PHOTO | AFP
What you need to know:
- Health authorities in Gaza, which is ruled by the Iran-backed Hamas militant group, said the hospital strike killed at least 471 people and was caused by the latest in a wave of Israeli air strikes.
Tehran. Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday accused the United States of being an accomplice in Israeli "crimes" after a rocket struck a hospital complex in war-torn Gaza, killing hundreds.
"The people of the world consider America to be an accomplice in the crimes of the Zionist regime," Raisi told thousands of people who had gathered in central Tehran in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Health authorities in Gaza, which is ruled by the Iran-backed Hamas militant group, said the hospital strike killed at least 471 people and was caused by the latest in a wave of Israeli air strikes.
The Israeli army later blamed Palestinian militants, saying it had evidence showing an outgoing Islamic Jihad rocket had misfired.
In his address to the Tehran rally, Raisi called for a stop to the bombing of the Gaza Strip, an end to the siege of the enclave and for the delivery of aid to the Palestinian people.
The Iranian president also warned of a "harsh revenge by the Islamic world for the crimes committed in Palestine and Gaza".
"With the attack on the hospital, the end of the Zionist regime will start," he said, referring to Israel.
"Every drop of blood that is shed from the Palestinians brings the Zionist regime one step closer to its fall," Raisi said.
Thousands of people in Tehran were shown on state television waving the flags of Iran, Palestine and Tehran-allied Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
They chanted slogans and held banners that read "Down with America", "Down with Israel" and "Palestine will be liberated" as they marched.
Hamas militants stormed across Israel's southern border on October 7, shooting people in their homes and on the streets in an attack that some 1,400 lives.
Iran celebrated the "success" of the attack but insisted it was not involved in the onslaught, during which nearly 200 Israelis, foreigners and dual nationals were taken hostage.
Israel has responded by pounding Hamas targets in the blockaded Gaza Strip, killing around 3,500 people in the impoverished Palestinian territory of over 2.4 million people
