A photo posted on Ayatollah Khameni's Twitter account. Photo: Twitter.

Iranian Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei on Tuesday warned competitors in the 31^st International  Quran  Competition that a lack of “intimacy with the Quran” could lead to “fratricide or even cooperation with the Zionist Regime,” state news agency Mehr reported.

“Intimacy with Quran is an indication that the heart is prepared to receive heavenly guide,” Khamenei said at the competition’s closing ceremony. “Today, the greatest plight for Islamic world is ignoring the intimacy with Quran and subsequently, to remain unaware of the enemies’ rouses.”

He said Islam’s enemies waged proxy wars in Islamic societies, according to Mehr, then he warned that “some parts of the Ummah [the global Muslim population] ignore such policies, and they easily fall to the trap of fratricide or even cooperation with the Zionist Regime.”

“The heavenly blessings and understanding Quranic criteria to know the enemies hinge upon close companionship of Quran,” the Ayatollah said.

The fiery rhetoric mirrored a similar speech last week to Iran’s parliament, where Iran’s Supreme Leader vowed to destroy the U.S., which he held responsible for distorting the world’s values and starting indiscriminate wars.

Khamenei said,”Battle and jihad are endless because evil and its front continue to exist. … This battle will only end when the society can get rid of the oppressors’ front with America at the head of it, which has expanded its claws on human mind, body and thought. … This requires a difficult and lengthy struggle and need for great strides.”

The Ayatollah said, “Today’s world is full of thieves and plunderers of human honor, dignity and morality who are equipped with knowledge, wealth and power, and under the pretense of humanity easily commit crimes and betray human ideals and start wars in different parts of the world.”