Following the recent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has taken to twitter to publicly criticise the US for its mishandling of the violence.

If US has any power,they better manage their country,tackle #WhiteSupremacy rather than meddle in nations’ affairs. #Charlottesville

13/4/94 pic.twitter.com/x3fE5qMcNj — Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) August 16, 2017

What happened at Charlottesville?

Clashes broke out when a rally which was organised by white supremasist far-right groups was confronted by left wing anti-protestors. One woman was killed in the ensuing violence when a right wing protester rammed a car into anti-facist protestors, killing 32-year old Heather Heyer and injuring dozens more.

Trump’s refusal to condemn the ‘alt-right’ brought on a fury of international criticism, and revealed deep rooted social divisions within US society.

Relations between Tehran and the US have historically been volatile since the CIA was accused of staging a coup which removed Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iran’s first democratically elected Prime Minister in 1953.

Since the formation of the Islamic Republic, Iran has publicly vilified the US, branding it as the country’s number one enemy. Relations looked to be improving under US President Obama when the nuclear deal was made, lifting economic sanctions from Iran, however since the Trump presidency tensions have been building once again.