ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that Tehran will not cooperate with the United States in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), arguing that trusting America would be “a big mistake.” For Tehran, Khamenei said, cooperating with America goes “against independence” of Iran. Iran, Khamenei said, has “many small and big enemies, but foremost among them are America,” Britain and Israel. Both the US and Iran fight ISIS in the region and both countries have backed the Iraqi government in its efforts to retake lost territories from the extremist group. However Iran also backs the Shiite militias in the fight against ISIS, something the US has avoided doing. In Syria the Iranian regime backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The US has refused to work with Assad against ISIS and instead supports a Syrian Kurdish-led coalition against ISIS in that country. The Supreme Leader made these remarks at a ceremony marking the 27th anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the first Supreme Leader of Iran’s Islamic Republic. Khamanei’s speech ran for 90-minutes and was broadcast live on Iranian television. His remarks are a reminder that in spite of the nuclear deal reached between Iran, US and world powers US-Iranian relations have not undergone any significant thaw. Despite lifting some of the economic sanctions on Iran as a result of the nuclear deal the US government still forbids Americans from doing business with Iran citing its record of sponsoring terrorism in the region and around the world.
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