Ayatollah: Terrorist US Destabilized Middle East

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has fingered the United States for instability in the Middle East.

The Supreme Leader alleges that Washington's fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) was a lie. "You (the U.S.) and your agents are the source of instability in the Middle East… Who created Islamic State? America... America's claim of fighting against Islamic State is a lie," Khamenei said on Monday.

The Ayatollah made the allegation during a meeting with high-ranking Iranian officials, according to his official website.

Following Iran's Islamic revolution in 1979, both countries discontinued diplomatic relations.

Khamenei has made several statements denouncing the United States since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
U.S. President Donald Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump promised to impose harsh terms on Iran, indicating he will reverse the Obama Administration's attempts at rapprochement with Tehran.

In 2015, former U.S. President Barack Obama brokered an agreement which led to the lifting of most sanctions against Iran, in return for restrictions on its nuclear program.

The deal has failed to normalize relations with the nations. Khamenei said Iran had no intention of normalizing ties with the United States.

"The American Government is against an independent Iran... They have problems with the existence of the Islamic Republic of Iran… Most of our problems with them cannot be resolved," Fars news agency quoted him as saying.

"America is a terrorist country and backs terrorism ... therefore, we cannot normalize ties with such country," he said.

The Iranian leader has accused the United States and its regional ally Saudi Arabia of funding hardline groups, including ISIL, that reportedly carried out an attack on Iran, on Wednesday, claiming the lives of 17 people.

But, Riyadh has denied involvement in the suicide bombings and gun attacks on the Iran's parliament and the mausoleum of the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.