Iran rejected offers from the United States to help the country deal with the coronavirus, with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei giving rise to claims the COVID-19 virus is a U.S. bioweapon designed to attack geopolitical foes.

Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, acknowledged during a televised address marking the Persian New Year that “U.S. leaders have on several occasions declared that they are ready to help us with medical aid and medicines.” But he called the offer “strange” and accused the U.S. of having nefarious motives while amplifying accusations similar to those pushed by the Chinese Communist Party, according to translations from multiple outlets.