As ISIS militants continue their campaign to overtake the Middle East in order to establish a “Caliphate,” the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has spoken out, saying that the United States, Zionists, and Britain are behind the Islamic State.

Al-Akhbar reports that Khamenei made his curious comments on Monday while giving his first speech since undergoing prostate surgery last month.

In his speech, which he gave marking a Shiite Muslim religious holiday, Khamenei alleged that,

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 Shias. They created Al-Qaeda and Da’esh (the Arabic acronym for ISIS -ed.) in order to create divisions and use them to fight against the Islamic Republic, but today, they have turned on them (ISIS).

In this case, Khamenei is referring to the U.S.-led coalition who are bolstering rebel forces fighting the Syrian army and ISIS, as he said in his speech, and that this is being done in order to essentially pit Muslims against each other,

A careful and analytic look at the developments reveals that the U.S. and its allies, in efforts that are falsely termed countering Da’esh, seek to create division and enmity among the Muslims rather to destroy the root causes of that (terrorist) current. Shias and Sunnis must know that any action or remark, including insulting one another, leads to increased sensitivities and ignite flames. This will certainly benefit the common enemy of all Muslims.

In the same vein, the Supreme Leader refused to cooperate in any way with the united States, who requested to work with Iran against ISIS because they have “dirty hands,” in his words, while one of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said he is doubtful that the real objective of the United States against ISIS is to eliminate the group.