Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said a U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State is “pointless,” as members of the alliance meet today to coordinate efforts against the militant group.

“Actions that were carried out in Iraq and broke the back of Islamic State were not the deed of Americans but those of the army and people of Iraq,” Khamenei said today in comments on his official website. He said the coalition is “pointless, superficial and has an agenda.”

While U.S. airstrikes against Islamic State targets helped Kurdish and government forces recapture some of the territory lost to the al-Qaida breakaway group, Iranian-backed militias have also aided the fight against the Sunni extremists.

Khamenei spoke as European and Middle Eastern wings of the developing coalition are gathering today in Paris at the initiative of French President Francois Hollande. The 25-nation meeting is aimed at coordinating aid to Iraq in the efforts against the Islamist militants.

Iran has rejected U.S. requests for cooperation against Islamic State, Khamenei said. U.S. and Iranian officials have conducted sporadic discussions about Islamic State at talks held this summer over the Persian Gulf nation’s nuclear program, as well as communications through a third party, two U.S. officials with knowledge of the contacts said this month.

The U.S. intends to intensify airstrikes on the militants in coordination with the Iraqi government, according to a State Department official who spoke on the condition of anonymity under government rules. Obama is considering extending the attacks, now limited to Iraq, to Islamic State bases, leaders and supply lines in neighboring Syria.