Iran's Supreme Leader Compares American Cops to the Islamic State

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei likened the Islamic State group’s brutality to the “oppressive behavior” of U.S. police officers and praised the late Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini for coining the anti-American term “the Great Satan.”

The supreme leader spoke at a service Thursday marking the 26th anniversary of Khomeini’s death.

The Twitter account Iran experts believe is run by Khamenei’s office tweeted highlights of his remarks:

We are opposed to brutal acts of #ISIS in Iraq & Syria as much as the oppressive behavior of Federal police of the US; they’re all the same.

— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) June 4, 2015

The term “Great Satan” for US was coined by @IRKhomeini ; when you consider sb or an entity as Satan then it’s clear how you should behave.

— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) June 4, 2015

In his speech, Khamenei hinted at obstacles in the ongoing negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.

"In recent events, we have seen that we cannot have confidence in the promises of the oppressors and their declarations during private meetings,” Khamenei told the large crowd gathered at Khomeini’s mausoleum, according to Agence France-Presse.

Given his use of descriptions such as “oppressors” and “arrogants,” Khamenei appeared far from green lighting warm relations with the U.S. in the future beyond any possible technical agreement on the nuclear issue.

Currently,in various issues we see objectively that it’s impossible to trust the promise of arrogants &speech they make in private meetings.

— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) June 4, 2015

Negotiators for the U.S., Iran and five world powers are in the final stretch of talks over Iran’s nuclear program as they race to meet a self-imposed June 30 deadline to reach a permanent agreement.

Khamenei has previously issued statements criticizing U.S. police in high-profile cases of black American deaths.

In April, for example, he tweeted, “It’s ridiculous that even though US President is black, still such crimes agnst US blacks continue to occur.”