Fighters from the Kataeb Hezbollah, inspect the destruction at their headquarters in the aftermath of a U.S. airstrike in Qaim, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 30, 2019. (Photo: AP)

TEHRAN, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday strongly condemned the recent deadly U.S. airstrikes in Iraq, official IRNA news agency reported.  

"I together with the Iranian government and nation strongly condemn this evil act of America," Khamenei was quoted as saying. 

On Sunday, the U.S. military launched deadly airstrikes on three locations in Iraq and two in Syria controlled by the Iraqi paramilitary group of Kata'ib Hezbollah "in response to the killing of a U.S. civilian contractor in a Friday rocket attack on its military base in Iraq."

The Iranian leader dismissed the U.S. officials' claims that Iran was behind the anti-American moves in Iraq.

He also said that the United States takes revenge on the Iraqi popular forces since they defeated the "Daesh," also known as the Islamic State militants in Iraq.