(JNS.org) Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned last week’s terrorist bombings at the Boston Marathon, but at the same time used the issue as a platform to express anger at U.S. drone attacks in the Middle East. Commenters on some online jihadi forums expressed happiness about the Boston attack. “What kind of logic is this that if children and women are killed by Americans in Afghanistan and Pakistan and by U.S.-backed terrorists in Iraq and Syria [it] is not a problem, but if a bombing happens in the U.S. or another Western country, the whole world should pay the cost?” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Iranian military leaders.

Iran funds terrorist groups including Gaza-based Hamas and Lebanon-based Hezbollah.


According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), online jihadi comments on the Boston Marathon bombings have ranged from a­­ photo of a young man with both legs blown off as the “best image from Boston explosions,” to those calling the attack “great news,” to those that wish to burden the U.S. with many such attacks so that the country will collapse.
Israeli leaders, meanwhile, expressed their condolences to the U.S. over the Boston attack. “We send our condolences to President [Barack] Obama, the American people and the bereaved families,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “On this day and on any day, Israel stands shoulder to shoulder with the American people.”