By Joshua McElwee
ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT, April 23 (Reuters) – Pope Leo on Thursday firmly condemned the killing of protesters in Iran, after U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the Catholic leader last week for not doing so while speaking out against the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.
Leo, the first U.S. pope, also decried the deaths of “so many” civilians in the war and lamented the collapse of U.S.-Iran peace talks in comments aboard his return flight to Rome after a four-nation Africa tour.
“I condemn all actions that are unjust. I condemn the taking of people’s lives,” the pope said in response to a question in a press conference about reports that Iran has killed thousands of protesters.
“When a regime, when a country takes decisions which takes away the lives of other people unjustly, then obviously that is something that should be condemned,” he said.
Leo was attacked by Trump on social media as “terrible” on April 12, after the pope emerged as an outspoken critic of the Iran war and the president’s hardline anti-immigration policies.
In a post two days later, Trump asked “will someone please tell Pope Leo” about the deaths of Iranian protesters.
Iranian authorities killed thousands of people during anti-government protests in January, Iran’s worst domestic unrest since the era of its 1979 Islamic Revolution. Rights groups say the government has continued to crack down on opponents while war rages, with Tehran carrying out another execution this week.
Leo did not mention Trump in his remarks on Thursday. He said that as leader of the 1.4-billion-member Catholic Church he does not support war.
“As a pastor, I cannot be in favor of war,” he said, adding that he carries with him a photo of a child killed by Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
Leo said the child had been among the crowds that greeted him during his visit to Lebanon in November and December, as part of the pope’s first overseas trip.
“We have seen so many innocents killed,” Leo said of the war.
Referring to the recent breakdown in peace talks, the pope said: “One day Iran says yes, the United States says no and vice versa. We don’t know where it will go.”
“It has created a situation that is still chaotic … and also there is the whole population of Iran, innocent people, who are suffering because of this war,” he said.
Leo on Thursday also defended his decision to visit countries in Africa known for having authoritarian leaders. Two of the countries the pope visited, Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon, have leaders who have been in power for decades.
He said the Vatican maintains diplomatic relationships with authoritarian regimes.
“We don’t always make great proclamations … but there’s an awful lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to promote justice,” said the pope. He said the Vatican works “so that the lives of people can be improved.”
(Reporting by Joshua McElwee, editing by Deepa Babington)
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