Leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement pose for a group photo during the 13th NAM summit in Kuala Lumpur Monday, February 24.

KUALA LUMPUR, February 24 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Iranian leader Mohammad Khatami accused the United States of positioning itself as a violent Big Brother driven by "fanatic fundamentalism."

The criticism, delivered at the 116-nation Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit here, followed earlier condemnations of the United States by conference host Mahathir Mohamad, the Malaysian prime minister, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.

"It is unfortunate that the other superpower ... allows itself, self-righteously, to hector others from a position of the 'big brother' -- worse still as the self-appointed 'master of the world'," Khatami said in an address to the NAM assembly.

"The problem, however, is not just a matter of satisfying an instinct for a sense of superiority; rather, as is currently the case, the very security of many countries in the world is seriously threatened."

Khatami also accused Washington of using force to steamroll international opponents.

Iran, like fellow NAM members Iraq and North Korea, was included in the U.S. leader's "axis of evil" in his 2001 State of the Union address.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday, February 23, that it was quite justified to compare U.S. officials to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

Khatami's comments added to the anti-Washington hyperbole that has punctuated the two-day conference dominated by a looming conflict in Iraq.

Mahathir said earlier Monday that the U.S. campaign against terror was a thinly disguised plot to take over the world.

"It is no longer just a war against terrorism," the veteran Southeast Asian leader said. "It is in fact a war to dominate the world."

The two-day NAM summit, which opened Monday, is to adopt a resolution rejecting any use of force against fellow NAM member Iraq without United Nations permission.

NAM, which consists mainly of developing countries and has been meeting since 1961, was conceived as an alternative to the Eastern and Western blocs during the Cold War.