TEHRAN, Iran
Iran's religious and political leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rejected cooperating with the United States to fight against Islamic State of Iraq and Levant militants.
Speaking on Monday, Khamenei described the U.S. announcement of a coalition to fight the Sunni militant group which has overrun parts of northern Syria and Iraq as "absurd and hollow.”
His comments come as an international conference on Iraq kicked off in Paris on Monday. Twenty-nine countries were invited, aiming to agree on means of countering the influence of the ISIL group.
Iran, an ally of the Syrian regime, was not invited; Tehran responded by claiming that it did not want to participate.
Khamenei today gave an interview to Iran's state-run TV network after leaving hospital following prostate surgery.
He said listening to U.S. claims about fighting ISIL was “fun” for him while he was hospitalized.
He referred to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's remark that the United States will not invite Iran into the coalition to battle ISIL: "[The] U.S. and its allies earlier had formed a coalition like that against Syria but they could not do anything," Khamenei said.
He claimed the U.S.’ goal was to turn Iraq and Syria into Pakistan “where they intrude [on] the country's territory without any permission, despite the existence of a powerful army and sovereign government.”
"The U.S. should know they will once again face the same problems which were created in their way in the last 10 years in Iraq if they take a step like that," he added.
The U.S. State Department announced on September 6 that Washington would not coordinate military action nor share intelligence with Iran in its fight against ISIL militants.
Violence by ISIL has claimed more than 1,400 lives in the month of August alone, and caused 1.2 million Iraqis – including Turkmen, Arabs, Christians and Ezidis – to flee their homes.
www.aa.com.tr/en
