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TEHRAN — Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday called for Israel's prime minister and defence minister to face trial for the deadly raid on a Gaza aid flotilla in the eastern Mediterranean.

The United States, Britain and France must also be held accountable for Monday's Israeli raid on the aid ships, said Khamenei, who is all-powerful in the Islamic republic.

"The Arab League and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference must not be satisfied with anything less than a full lifting of the Gaza blockade," he said in a statement.

Khamenei also called for "an end to the grabbing of Palestinian land in the West Bank and a trial of criminals such as (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and (Defence Minister Ehud) Barak."

He said the "criminal attack ... should have convinced everyone that Zionism is the new and more violent face of fascism which is backed by those states which advocate freedom and human rights, above all the US government."

Washington, London and Paris should also be held accountable, he said.

"US, Britain, France and other European communities which have politically and financially backed these natural-born criminals should be seriously held accountable," the cleric said.

In a pre-dawn operation on Monday, Israeli commandos raided the flotilla and at least nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed in ensuing clashes, according to the Israeli army.