Iran's supreme leader says it is no one's business if his country chooses to help its neighbours and that Tehran's military has helped defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to make the Middle East more stable.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the comments in his annual address marking the first day of the Persian New Year (Nowruz).

But the bulk of his speech focused on the nation's own economic problems.

Al Jazeera's Zein Basravi reports from Tehran.