Chairman of Iran’s Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi said on Saturday that what matters to the United States and its allies is nothing but their own interests.

Boroujerdi added that the United States is afraid of democracy and legitimacy of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s administration.

The United States and Britain have voiced concern over the vote, with US Secretary of State John Kerry calling the poll a “great big zero.”

The West cannot deny the fact that the election in Syria was indeed legitimate and it was no ceremonial event, the Iranian official added.

He also stated that Syria used to be a calm country, where different walks of life were peacefully co-existing, but in the aftermath of power imbalance in the Middle East, Americans sought to change the balance in their favor.

Boroujerdi headed an Iranian parliamentary delegation on election day in the Syrian capital, Damascus, to observe the voting process. The Iranian team was in Syria upon an invitation from the Syrian Parliament Speaker Mohammad al-Lahham.

The Iranian official said since the beginning of crisis in Syria over three years ago, “we have been calling for a political solution, and have been confident that election and its result will have a great influence on the resolution of the crisis.”

President Assad garnered more than 88 percent of the votes. The Supreme Constitutional Court of Syria put the voter turnout at over 73 percent.

Syrians in and out of their homeland tried to show support for democracy based on the peaceful method of voting in the presidential election.

NTJ/MB