For the first time since the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi hit world headlines, Iran's president came out in condemnation today. "No one would have expected that such a coordinated murder could take place in our times," Hassan Rouhani told a Cabinet meeting in Tehran.

Rouhani demanded that Turkey shed light on all the "angles" of the "crime.” More significantly, the Iranian president blamed Washington for standing behind Riyadh. "I don't think that any country would dare do such a thing without US backing," he said in comments broadcast on state television.

Why it matters: The comments came only one day after Rouhani renewed defiance against the imminent reimposition of key US sanctions targeting Iran's oil and banking sectors. "The US is planning to turn Nov. 4 into a bitter memory for Iranians,” he said. “But it will be definitely defeated by the resistant nation and the brave supreme leader."

That could also explain his belated response to Khashoggi’s murder. By implicating Washington and highlighting US "support" for the Saudis, Rouhani was seen trying to mitigate the impacts of the fresh sanctions. The president appears to be pushing to rally world governments around Iran and tell them the sanctions are coming from the very state that supported the murder of a journalist inside a consulate.