Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the United States of creating ISIS and trying to destroy Islamic civilization in a speech Tuesday in Tehran.

Khamenei made his comments in front of Muslim scholars, leaders and political figures at the International Islamic Unity Conference. Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported on Khamenei’s remarks.

The Supreme Leader noted that the statements of the current US officials who claim to be in agreement with Islam are untrue and show their hypocrisy, and said, “The present US officials are against the principles of Islam and unlike their statements they are after fomenting differences among Muslims and its example is 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; they (the American officials) have caused the recent tragedies in the Muslim world.” … The Iranian Supreme Leader pointed to the statements of a US politician who had said that Islamism is the enemy of the US, and said, “The Shiite or Sunni does not make any difference for the Americans; they are against any Muslim who wants to live in accordance with Islamic rules and make efforts to that end.” Ayatollah Khamenei described the main problem of the Americans with Muslims as the latter group’s loyalty and commitment to the decrees and teachings of Islam and their efforts to establish Islamic civilization, and said, “It is for the same reason that when the Islamic awakening started they grew worried and tried to contain it and they even succeeded in some countries, but the Islamic awakening cannot be destroyed and it will achieve its goals God willingly.”

Although there is evidence tying Iran to the formation of ISIS, Khamenei has often accused the United States of being responsible for creating the terror group. A video produced by his office blamed the United States for the Paris terror attacks in November.

Khamenei’s speech continues a trend, noted in The New York Times last month, of growing anti-Americanism demonstrated by the Islamic Republic since the announcement of a nuclear deal in July. According to the Times, the escalation in official expressions of anti-Americanism was matched by greater restrictions on individual rights. Similarly, Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, wrote last week that along with the arrests an American citizen and a U.S. resident, the sentencing of an American journalist to jail, and a surge of cyber-attacks against U.S. officials, “Iranian leadership continues to rail against the ‘Big Satan’ without penalty or even opprobrium.”

Since the nuclear deal was announced, Khamenei has twice called the United States “criminal,” and promised that Iran would defeat it in the event of a war. He has also called for Iran to block the import of American goods, and said that despite the nuclear deal there would be no broader cooperation with the United States.

[Photo: Ayatullah Khamenei Speeches English / YouTube ]