Iran Supreme Leader: U.S. created ISIS

Iran’s Supreme Leader has accused the U.S. of creating and supporting ISIS as a means of creating conflict among Muslims and promoting a false form of Islam in the world. In an English language Twitter account affiliated with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the country’s highest authority, tweeted:

US aim of making & backing DAESH is to sow discord in Islamic Ummah, defame true Islam & promote Wahabbi Islam which is far from true Islam.

— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) August 3, 2016

US aim of making & backing DAESH is to sow discord in Islamic Ummah, defame true Islam & promote Wahabbi Islam which is far from true Islam The claim is not the first time Khamenei has accused the U.S. and the West of creating the current conflict in Syria and Iraq. Last December, Khamenei accused U.S. officials of sowing discord among Muslims by “creating terrorist groups like Daesh (the Arabic word for the ISIL) and other groups that have been created through the funding of the US affiliates and their political aids," according to Iran’s state-run media outlet, Fars News. Following prostate surgery in late 2014, he suggested America, Zionism and “the wicked government of Britain” created Al Qaeda and Da'esh (ISIS) as way to contain Iran, but that instead these groups “have turned on them.” Ironically, President Obama and the current U.S. administration have spent the past few years cozying up to Iran brokering an agreement last July between the Islamic Republic and world powers to curb Iran’s nuclear program and lift international sanctions. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the Obama administration secretly airlifted $400 million cash to Iran earlier this year in exchange for four Americans held in the country. The White House has denied the money was paid as a ransom. Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 that overthrew the Shah of Iran and saw Khamenei’s predecessor Ayatollah Khomeini sweep to power, Iran has been involved in several regional conflicts in the Middle East; Most notably the Iran-Iraq war of the 80’s and the current intervention in the Syrian conflict. Iran remains a major sponsor of global terror, including the funding of militant Shiite group Hezbollah, based in Lebanon.