Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Thursday that Tehran’s hosting of the 16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit was a ‘humiliating defeat’ for the enemies of the country.

“With their stupidity, the enemies of the Iranian nation turned this summit into a diplomatic war against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which resulted in humiliating defeat for them,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in an address to the members of the Assembly of Experts in Tehran.

The Leader added that the ‘successful’ hosting of the NAM Summit in Tehran is an example of the favorable intellectual system which Iran has offered to the world.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the world’s political conditions, the time and venue of the summit, and the stupidity of the ill-wishers of the Iranian nation turned the gathering into both an ‘impressive phenomenon’ which drew the attention of the world, and a diplomatic war against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

“Efforts were made to create an atmosphere in which the Islamic Republic of Iran would resort to self-censorship and avoid voicing its positions against the Zionist regime [of Israel], but the meeting was held in such a glorious manner that all those efforts were foiled,” the Leader added.

Ayatollah Khamenei said some of the summit’s other positive points included the convening of nearly two-thirds of the world countries and the platform that it provided for expressing the views which are not voiced in other international gatherings.

“The views that were expressed by some heads of state and delegations present in the Tehran Summit, especially criticism of the United Nations and the Security Council structures as well as the international dictatorship ruling the world, lacked precedence in similar international meetings.”