MNA � Expediency Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei said that billions-dollar propaganda against Islam should be blamed for the recent terrorist attack in New Zealand.

In a Saturday message on his Instagram account, Rezaie wrote, �an unprecedented crime in a peaceful country like New Zealand proves that this was of an organized act. The perpetrators of this move are linked to governments that have launched billions-dollar propaganda against Islam and Muslims over the past ten years,� highlighting, �the fueling of Islamophobia in the world led by Israeli regime is one of the main causes of this crime.�

�Soon, those behind this anti-human crime, will attribute the attack to the internal motivations of the New Zealand community, including anti-immigration motives; this is while the operating procedures, used equipment, and the use of financial resources for launching it, show that the crime has not been internally motivated,� he added.

Friday terrorist attack at two New Zealand mosques in Christchurch killed 49 people and wounded 40 others. The incident was the country's worst ever mass shooting, which Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern condemned as a terrorist attack.

The Australian gunman behind the massacre, identified as Brenton Tarrant, streamed the attack on one mosque live on Facebook, after publishing a "manifesto" in which he denounced immigrants, calling them "invaders". In his manifesto, Tarrant said he saw US President Donald Trump as �symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose.