A day after the failure to reach a comprehensive nuclear agreement, the Supreme Leader has responded with a vehement attack against the US as an “arrogant” power which has created and supports the Islamic State.
Speaking at the “World Congress on Extremist and Takfiri Movements”, Ayatollah Khamenei declared, “In the nuclear issue, arrogants have [tried] their best to bring Iran to its knees but they were not able and will not be able to do so.”
He then launched into the US as the backer of “takfiris”, the label that Iran applies to what it sees as heretical Muslims: “Takfirism, in line with the arrogants’ goals, managed to divert the IslamicAwakening and the people’s anti-US movement into war among Muslims and fratricide.”
But what about the US aerial campaign against the Islamic State since August in Syria and Iraq, with hundreds of airstrikes?
The Supreme Leader insisted that Washington is actually supplying the jihadists whom it is supposedly bombing, “We were informed that US planes dropped munitions on ISIS headquarters in Iraq; this cannot be an accident since it happened 5 times.”
US-led coalition against #ISIS is a blatant lie. By the means of ISIS, US wants to keep the war among #Muslims alive. pic.twitter.com/QU1wMbuF7F
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) November 25, 2014
Khamenei also pledged an increase in support for “resistance” in the Middle East, especially of Palestinians against Israel:
We strengthened our Palestinian brothers’ fist in #Gaza and other areas and will do so. As I already said, the West Bank should also be armed like Gaza.
Israel is severely weakened. This regime had raised the slogan of “Nile to Euphrates” but failed to conquer Gaza tunnels in 50 days [in this summer’s war].