Iran supreme leader slams US over Trump 'shithole' slur

TEHRAN: Iran's supreme leader on Tuesday said US President Donald Trump's alleged slur against some poor countries proved Washington's claims it defends human rights are false.

"The person who is today in office in America announces the stance of this country very clearly and blatantly," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech published on his official website.

"His predecessors too had the same stance but would not announce it this clearly and a clear example of this stance is his recent remarks on Africa, Latin America and other races which is an instance of acting against human rights."

Trump's reported description of Haiti and African nations as "shithole countries" has sparked international condemnation.

Trump has denied making "derogatory" comments about Haitians -- despite the insistence of at least one senator that the president used the words repeatedly on Thursday during a White House meeting on immigration.

The Iranian authorities describe the US as the "Great Satan" and the two countries have been sworn foes since Tehran's Islamic revolution in 1979.

The US has infuriated Iran by slapping sanctions on a top judge for alleged rights violations during a recent wave of anti-regime unrest in which 21 people were killed and hundreds arrested.

Tehran has also rejected demands from Trump for additional tough measures to keep alive a 2015 deal it signed with world powers to curb its nuclear programme.