VARIOUS: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launches attack on U.S. policy in the Middle East during Ramadan prayers

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launches attack on U.S. policy in the Middle East during Ramadan prayers; security tight in Jerusalem on first Friday of holy month. At prayers to mark the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan on Friday (September 14) Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticised U.S. President George W. Bush's Middle East policies, calling them a failure. And in a speech broadcast live on state television Khamenei said he was sure one day Bush and other senior American officials would face trial at an international court for "the tragedies they have created in Iraq". "America has failed in Lebanon and Palestine. They have failed in Iraq too" Khamenei told worshippers at Tehran University. Thousands of people gathered to hear him mark the first Friday prayer of the Islamic fasting month with a condemnation of Iran's arch foe, the United States. Among those present were Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani. Washington has accused Shi'ite Muslim Iran of providing funds, arms and training to Iraqi Shi'ite militants and of supporting terrorism across the Middle East. Iran denies the charge and blames the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 for the bloodshed between Iraq's majority Shi'ite and minority Sunni Arabs. In Jerusalem, Muslim worshippers flocked to the revered al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem for Friday prayers. Witnesses said police and soldiers at checkpoints outside the West Bank towns of Ramallah and Bethlehem turned away thousands of Palestinians who were trying to reach the mosque, which is the Muslim world's third holiest shrine. This year the holy month of Ramadan coincides with the Jewish New Year holiday, a time when Israel normally blocks off access into the country from the occupied West Bank. Israel boosted security in and around Jerusalem in a bid to prevent possible violent outbursts at the al Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

ITN Source | September 14, 2007

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