Iran's top leader says U.S. relocates IS to Afghanistan

TEHRAN, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that the United States has been relocating the so-called Islamic State (IS) to Afghanistan to justify its military presence in the region.

By transferring the IS terror group from Iraq and Syria to Afghanistan, the United States seeks "to justify the continuation of its presence in the region and to create security for the Zionist regime (of Israel)," Khamenei said according to the state TV.

"The same hands that created Daesh (IS) as a tool to oppress people in Syria and Iraq and carry out crimes against them are today seeking to transfer Daesh to Afghanistan after its defeats there," he was quoted as saying.