TEHRAN: Iran’s top leader lashed out at the United States on Friday, saying that America is not a good mediator in Mideast peace talks because it allegedly always sides with Israel.

The comments by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei came ahead of the second round of US-brokered Israeli-Palestinian peace talks next week. The talks resumed after a five-year freeze. Khamenei argued that the results of any US-hosted talks will eventually damage the Palestinian side and force the Palestinians to “abandon their rights and encourage the occupier.”

“The US is not a real mediator, it stands by the Zionists,” said Khamenei. “Definitely .... it is against the interests of the Palestinians.”

Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, spoke during a prayer ceremony marking the start in Iran of the Eid Al-Fitr holiday at the end of the holy month of Ramadan. The Israelis “destroy houses and construct buildings while claiming they want negotiations,” said Khamenei. Iran does not recognize Israel and has considered the Jewish state its archenemy since the 1979 revolution that toppled the Western-backed monarchy and brought clerics to power.