The following is an approximate transcript of the Press TV interview.

Press TV: Heavy clashes are underway in Syria between a number of militant groups and ISIL terrorists for control of a border crossing with Iraq. That’s according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The clashes are taking place in the town of Boukamal. The ISIL insurgents who control some parts of northeastern Syria took control of Boukamal last week. The terrorist group is notorious for its fear campaign and ruthless crimes in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

Mr. Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, author and geopolitical analyst, is with us … from Montreal. First of all, looking at the clashes taking place over control of a border crossing at Iraq – that brings us to the question of the objective of this group. They’ve said they want to create an Islamic State or Caliphate – in their own words – and their intention is to create this state in Iraq and Syria.

First of all tell us about that plan; what it means for the region; and also about those who are saying that Western countries including the US, and specifically the US, should be held to blame for supporting these groups and making them reach the stage that they’re currently in.

Nazemroaya: I think that’s an excellent question and let me be clear about this and very categorical. What is called DAISH [Arabic: Al-Dawlah Al-Islamiyah fe Al-Iraq wa Al-Sham] or the ISIL (the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) is not the manifestation of the failure of US policy that the United States is trying to present; it is actually the manifestation of US policy.

This is the clear manifestation of what the United States and its allies, including Israel to the south of Syria, have been trying to do in this region for over a decade. For many years now, this is a manifestation of that. The ISIL in Syria want to integrate Syria with Iraq and basically the objective is to divide both countries and to create sectarian states that are homogenous and only reserved for Sunnis while other groups, such as Shiites, Christians, Druze, are all expelled.

This is why you have people in the Syrian anti-government forces – the insurgency – for several years now, since the insurgency started in 2011, saying “Alawites to the ground and Christians to Lebanon.” Because what they’re trying to do is and what they’ve been working to do is what some would call ethnic cleansing. I think that term is an oxymoron and actually camouflages genocide.

The Christians in Iraq are almost extinct and that’s because of the United States and Britain. During their occupation the Christians were persecuted.

And now in Syria this fighting is going on because the ISIL wants to integrate this area with Iraq. It calls this an Islamic Caliphate, but I want to be categorical; this has nothing to do with Islam. The idea of an Islamic Emirate now is something that the United States has been pushing. The Islamic Emirate when it was disbanded, the last Caliphate under the Ottomans, wasn’t even the authentic Caliphate. Anybody who talks about that isn’t aware of history or has no understanding of Islam.

And the United States has been pushing this as a camouflage. Many in the West believe the ISIL represents Muslims; it doesn’t represent Muslims or Sunnis at all.