US President Donald Trump on Twitter praised Western air strikes against the Syrian government on Saturday as "perfectly executed", adding: "Mission Accomplished."
"A perfectly executed strike last night. Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!" Mr Trump said in a Twitter post.
Mr Trump's message echoed the words of a banner that hung behind former President George W Bush when he gave a speech in 2003 from the USS Abraham Lincoln, only six weeks into the Iraq War.
That visual dogged Bush's presidency as the war dragged out, with worsening American casualties, for the remainder of his two terms in office.
'A crime'
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said coordinated air strikes on Syria by the United States, France and Britain on Saturday were a crime that would bring no benefit.
"Today's dawn attack on Syria is a crime. I clearly declare that the President of the United States, the President of France and the British Prime Minister are criminals," Khamenei said in a speech, according to his Twitter account.
"They will not benefit [from the attack] as they went to Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan in the past years and committed such crimes and did not gain any benefits," Mr Khamenei added.
Iran - the dominant Shi'ite Muslim power which is in rivalry with Saudi Arabia and the United States' other Sunni Arab allies - has been Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's most supportive ally against insurgents throughout the conflict.
Militias backed by Tehran helped Assad's army stem rebel advances and, following Russia's entry into the war in 2015, turn the tide decisively in the Syrian government's favour.
Iran's pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani warned that the US-led missile attacks would lead to further destruction in the Middle East, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
"Such attacks will have no result but more destruction... the Americans want to justify their presence in the region by such attacks," Mr Rouhani was quoted as saying, signalling that Iran's support for Assad would grow.
Reuters / Newshub.
