TEHRAN - Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has praised the disabled war veterans as testimony to the “sacred defense”, in reference to the Iraqi imposed war on Iran in the 1980s.

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in a meeting with a number of disabled war veterans on Sunday, where he also said the disabled war veterans are images of the war crimes of big powers who encouraged former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to invade Iran.

He said the Iraq’s invasion of Iran was at the directives of Washington, adding that the then U.S. administration supported Saddam to perpetrate war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Iranian nation.

Disabled war veterans can be a great source for the Iranian people to take lessons about the realities of politics, international relations, and history, the Leader noted.

MD/P