Iran supreme leader lauds Putin for starting Ukraine war and says if he hadn't, "dangerous" NATO would have
CBSN
Tehran, Iran — Iran's supreme leader offered his staunch support Tuesday to Russian President Vladimir Putin for his country's war in Ukraine. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei demonized the U.S.-led NATO alliance and said the West was really working to prevent the growth of an "independent and strong" Russia.
A report published on the supreme leader's website said Khamenei had told Putin that if he hadn't sent troops into Ukraine, Russia would have faced an attack from NATO instead. The claim almost precisely echoed the defense for the invasion offered by Putin himself in the early days of the war, and it highlighted the deepening ties between two nations facing a barrage of Western sanctions.
The U.S. and its NATO partners have poured more troops into Eastern European countries, close to Russia's borders, and sent shipment after shipment of weapons into Ukraine to help its vastly out-manned and out-gunned military counter Putin's attack.
