Tasnim � Saudi Arabia has suffered a defeat at the International Maritime Organization after it failed to be re-elected to the IMO Council for the next term, Iran�s ambassador to the UK said.

In a post on his Twitter account on Friday, Iranian Ambassador to the UK Hamid Baeidinejad said two Arab allies of Saudi Arabia refused to quit the race for election to the IMO Council in favor of Riyadh, marking a defeat for the kingdom.

�Today, 40 members of the executive council of the International Maritime Organization were elected by the members, and the most important political development (in the election) was that Saudi Arabia was not re-elected, because it failed to gain enough votes,� the envoy said.

Baeidinejad added that the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait refused to withdraw from the race in favor of Saudi Arabia and were both themselves elected to the council.

On Friday, the IMO Assembly elected 40 states to its Council for the 2020-2021 biennium.

The new members fall in three categories and include China, Greece, Italy, Japan, Norway, Panama, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, United States, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Bahamas, Belgium, Chile, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey.

The newly elected Council will meet, following the conclusion of the 31st Assembly, for its 123rd session on December 5 and will elect its Chair and Vice-Chair for the next biennium.

The 31st Assembly of IMO is meeting in London from November 25 to December 4.