While speaking to the so-called Quranic group, Khamenei chided the Saudi leadership for its close ties with the US and the recently approved arms deal. Describing the Saudi monarch as "idiots", Khamenei said Riyadh acts like the "milk cows for the Americans".

"Today the Muslim world, like all other societies, is in grave danger. Among the Muslim world, a group of worthless, inept and villainous people are ruling over a community of the Muslim nation, namely the Saudi government; and, reason lies in refusal to follow Quran and lack of belief in the truth," Khamenei said.

Their relations are strained over a series of religio-political issues such as the way Islam is interpreted, the Islamic world's leadership and oil exports