Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks at the University of Tehran October 13, 2006. On the right is a picture of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Xinhua/Reuters

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday criticized the United States and its allies for carrying out the policy of "divide and rule" in the Middle East, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Khamenei made the criticism during his sermon to thousands of Muslim worshipers at Tehran University's central campus.

The Iranian supreme leader said that the old policy of divide and rule among followers of faiths and ethnic groups is revived in the region, according to the report.

"The British are experts in pursuing that policy and they have taught the Americans how to sow the seeds of discord among Shiites and Sunnis," Khamenei was quoted as saying.

"The enemies' efforts are aimed at flickering the flames of confrontations between the Palestinians against the Palestinians, and the Iraqis against the Iraqis," he asserted.

Khamenei also accused the United States and its allies of promoting terrorism in Iraq.

"Worse and more perilous than all, is the abundance of proof about their involvement in promoting terrorist moves in the name of the Shiites and the Sunnis," he said.

The Iranian leader called on peoples in the region to guard against the Western "plot" and maintain their alertness.

"That is the plot they are pursuing. But if we wish to witness the continuation of victories we have seen during the past couple of years, we need to maintain our consciousness and our alertness," Khamenei said.

"Unity is the greatest need of the region's peoples," he noted.