Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei slammed the Trump administration on Wednesday over the U.S.’s policy of separating migrant families who cross the border illegally for prosecution and detainment.
In comments posted on his website reported by Reuters, Rouhani wrote that he was “exasperated” to see pictures and video of migrant children as young as toddlers being kept in cages, which have caused widespread outrage in the U.S.
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“Seeing the images of the crime of separating thousands of children from their mothers in America makes a person exasperated,” Khamenei said, according to Reuters. “But the Americans separate the children from the immigrant parents with complete maliciousness.”
Iran frequently criticizes U.S. policy and has stepped up its attacks following the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the nuclear agreement with Iran earlier this year.
The country has its own record of human rights abuses, a subject Khamenei’s government has been criticized by the Trump administration and other past U.S. presidents.
The Trump administration has defended its policy of zero tolerance for illegal border crossings in recent days despite reports that thousands of young children have been forcibly separated from their parents for months at a time due to the policy.
“This entire crisis, just to be clear, is not new,” Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told reporters on Monday. “Currently, it is the exclusive product of loopholes in our federal immigration laws that prevent illegal immigrant minors and family members from being detained and removed to their home countries.”
“Congress and the courts created this system, and Congress alone can fix it,” she added.
Trump himself touted the policy and defended Nielsen in a tweet calling for an immigration system with “heart” Tuesday night.
“Homeland Security @SecNielsen did a fabulous job yesterday at the press conference explaining security at the border and for our country, while at the same time recommending changes to obsolete & nasty laws, which force family separation. We want “heart” and security in America!” Trump tweeted.