Iran has strongly condemned recent US attacks in Syria and Pakistan, and called for the next White House resident to correct the damaged US image worldwide.

Addressing a press conference along with visiting former Lebanese president Emile Lahoud, Iranian Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki said on Tuesday that the recent US attacks in Pakistan and Syria had killed innocent people in both countries.

The minister’s comments came in the backdrop of a US drone attack in South Waziristan that killed at least 20 people on Monday night, making it the 70th violation of the country’s territory by US and NATO forces. Also, American troops from Iraq on Sunday launched an assault on a residential area in the Syrian village of Al-Sukkiraya, killing eight civilians in the attack.

“Every intellectual now believes that the world has become more insecure after the so-called fight against terrorism,” said Mottaki. Criticising the outgoing government of President George Bush, the Iranian minister said it appeared that White House officials were trying to ‘register the last days of their administration with more blood and aggression.’