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Iran stepped up its rhetoric against the United States on Tuesday and accused Washington of meddling for saying its presidential election last week was neither free nor fair.
“We regard this statement as an example of interference in the internal affairs of Iran,” government spokesman Ali Rabiei told a press conference, adding: “We condemn it.”
Die-hard judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi secured 62% of the vote in Friday’s election marked by record turnout and boycott calls after many prominent politicians were barred from standing present.
The US State Department said the next day that it regretted that the Iranians had not been able to participate in a “free and fair electoral process”.
The comments angered Tehran. “The US government is unable to comment on the electoral process in Iran or any other country,” Rabiei said Tuesday.
Iran and the United States have been sworn enemies since the Iranian revolution of 1979 which led to the creation of an Islamic republic.
Tensions rose after then-US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a key nuclear deal in 2018 and imposed economic sanctions.
Trump’s successor, President Joe Biden, has made the return of the United States to the deal one of his top foreign policy priorities. The other parties to the deal are currently engaged in negotiations in Vienna to try to save it.
But Raisi said in his first press conference on Monday that the country was unwilling to negotiate on its ballistic missile program.
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