Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has blamed Western intervention in the Middle East for the rise of the Islamic State. Rouhani made the comments in his address to the United Nations General Assembly.

President Hassan Rouhani: “Certain states have helped create it and are now failing to withstand it. Currently our peoples are paying the price. Today’s anti-Westernism is the offspring of yesterday’s colonialism. Today’s anti-Westernism is a reaction to yesterday’s racism. Certain intelligence agencies have put blades in the hands of madmen, who now spare no one. All those who have played a role in founding and supporting these terror groups must acknowledge their errors.”