Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s most powerful man, blamed Monday the United States, Zionism and the “wicked” British government for creating the Islamic State group.
“America, Zionism, and especially the veteran expert of spreading divisions — the wicked government of Britain — have sharply increased their efforts of creating divisions between the Sunnis and Shi’ites,” he said, according to his website, in a speech marking a Shi’ite Muslim religious holiday, Reuters reported.
“They created Al Qaeda and Da’esh in order to create divisions and to fight against the Islamic Republic, but today, they have turned on [the Islamic State],” Mr. Khamenei said.
Da’esh refers to the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.
The supreme leader’s accusations appeared to be in reference to Western support for the Syrian rebels fighting Iran’s close ally, Syrian President Bashar-al Assad, Reuters reported.
Iran also believes the United States and Britain are using the Islamic State to justify increased military presence in the region.
“A careful and analytic look at the developments reveals that the U.S. and its allies, in efforts that are falsely termed countering Daesh, seek to create division and enmity among the Muslims rather to destroy the root causes of that [terrorist] current,” Mr. Khamenei said, Reuters reported.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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