Baku, Azerbaijan, June 4
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused the US of tolerating the "extremist Sunni groups" in Iraq and Syria.
"The United States tolerates Takfiri groups in Syria and Iraq and even help them in secret," Khamenei said, Iran's State IRINN TV reported June 4.
Meanwhile the US Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken said June 3 that more than 10,000 Islamic State (IS) fighters have been killed by American-led airstrikes in Iraq and Syria in nine months since the beginning of this campaign.
Khamenei further said that the US is seeding division in the Islamic world.
Terms such as "Shia Crescent" which was raised by the US "handymen" is within this goal, Khamenei said.
It should be noted that the term was coined in 2004 by King Abdullah II of Jordan at a time when Iran was reportedly interfering in Iraq in the run-up to the January 2005 parliamentary elections.
Iran's Supreme Leader further emphasized that the Islamic Republic will continue its support to oppressed nations including Palestinians.
"The Palestine issue will never be removed from the Islamic Republic's agenda," he underlined.
Khamenei also accused that the Islamic Republic enemies have targeted its independency using tools such as sanctions and threats.
He also indirectly touched upon the ongoing nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1(the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany), saying the arrogant powers are unreliable.
"The recent issues indicate that the arrogant powers' words cannot be trusted, what they say in private meetings is not trustable," Khamenei said.
Iran and the P5+1 reached a mutual understanding on Tehran's nuclear program in the Swiss city of Lausanne on April 2. The parties have agreed to finalize a comprehensive deal on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program by the end of June.
A new round of meetings for drafting a nuclear deal will begin in Vienna on June 4.
Edited by CN
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