US must be removed from Islamic world: Khamenei

AFP, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday called on Muslims to "remove" the United States from the Islamic world.

"The main problem in the Muslim world is the presence of the United States. It is the biggest problem. We need to address that," he told a gathering of Shiite and Sunni scholars in Tehran for an international conference on Islam.

"It is necessary to remove the United States from the Islamic world," the all-powerful cleric and Islamic republic's commander-in-chief said, adding that the country's arch-foe was currently weak.

Khamenei urged Muslims worldwide to preserve the "people's movement in Egypt," saying it was the duty of both the people and dignitaries of Arab nations and the entire Islamic community.

He reiterated that the Arab revolts were "Islamic" and must be consolidated.

"The enemies try to say that the popular movements in Egypt, Tunisia and other nations are un-Islamic, but certainly these popular movements are Islamic and must be consolidated," he said.

Khamenei also urged that "the conspiracy of enemies to create differences between Sunnis and Shiites" be confronted.

On February 4, in his Friday prayer sermon, Khamenei called for an Islamic regime to be installed in Egypt, a week before that country's strongman Hosni Mubarak was ousted.

Iranian officials expressed support for the uprising in the Arab world's most populous nation.