Iran supreme leader lauds Putin for starting Ukraine war and says if he hadn't, "dangerous" NATO would have

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...