TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Thursday that deadly US strikes on the Tehran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen were a “crime that must be stopped”.

The Huthis targeted ships in the Red Sea after the start of the Gaza war on October 7, 2023 and until a January ceasefire, claiming solidarity with Palestinians.

But last week they threatened to renew attacks on Israeli shipping over Israel’s aid blockade on the Palestinian territory, triggering the first US strikes on Yemen since President Donald Trump took office in January.

“This attack on the people of Yemen, on Yemeni civilians, is… a crime that must be stopped,“ Khamenei said in a video published on his website.

The United States said its strikes on Yemen killed several top Huthi officials, while the Huthi-run health ministry said they left dead 53 people and wounded nearly 100.

The Huthis are part of Iran’s “axis of resistance” staunchly opposed to Israel and the United States.

Iran has condemned the latest US strikes on Yemen, and on Thursday, the foreign ministry called them, along with Israel’s deadly strikes on Gaza, examples of “war crimes”.

In the video, Khamenei called Israel’s latest strikes on the Gaza Strip a “catastrophic crime” and said the United States “shares responsibility”.

The Gaza civil defence agency on Wednesday said that at least 470 people have been killed since Israel resumed large-scale air strikes on the Palestinian territory this week.