Iran's supreme leader seeks calm in Iraq

TEHRAN, Iran --Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday called for an end to the bloody sectarian conflict tearing apart neighboring Iraq.

"The Iraqi people should do everything to avoid sectarian conflict," Khamenei told a crowd of thousands, including senior government officials, ringing in the first day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday at a mosque in Tehran. The celebration marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Iraq's Shiite Muslim-led government has maintained close ties with Washington, as well as Shiite-dominated Iran since the fall of Saddam Hussein's overwhelmingly Sunni Arab regime.

But Iraq teeters on the brink of civil war with Sunni and Shiite factions launching daily attacks against each other and carrying out reprisal killings. The violence has displaced thousands of Iraqis, turning once-mixed neighborhoods into ethnic enclaves.

Many Iraqis believe Tehran has played a role in the unrest since Iran has ties to Iraq's largest Shiite political parties and their militias.

That view was echoed hours after Khamenei's speech when Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, lambasted Iran and Syria for trying to undermine the American effort to stabilize Iraq. Casey said both countries had been "decidedly unhelpful."

In his address, Khamenei warned other Middle Eastern countries against cooperating with American initiatives that may be designed to divide the Middle East for Israel's benefit.

"Our nation should be aware. The Lebanese nation should be aware. The Palestinian nation should be aware. Arab nations in the region, Iraq and other Muslim nations should be careful not to play along with these U.S. plots," the supreme leader said, adding that the biggest priority for the U.S. in the Middle East was protecting Israel's interests.

"What is considered success for the U.S. is harming all Islamic nations," Khamenei said.