The Russian Council of Muftis on Monday strongly criticised the US plan to bring about democratic reform to the Middle East, saying it constituted a crusade against Muslims.
"The doctrine of the Greater Middle East (Initiative) could become a new formula for a crusade against Muslims in the 21st century," a declaration by the council quoted by the Interfax news agency said.
"It is aimed at justifying the struggle against Islam and the standards, traditions, customs and daily lives of millions of Muslims," the statement went on.
It added that it was impossible to impose democracy in a region by force, "on the orders of someone a long way away."
The Greater Middle East Initiative is Washington's grand vision of reform in the region, aimed at encouraging political, economic and social reform throughout the largely autocratic Arab world and in other Muslim countries.
The head of the Mufti council Ravil Gainutdin said Washington intended to overthrow regimes in countries implicated in the Greater Middle East plan.