Substitute Leader of the Tehran Friday Prayers Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said the 20 February parliamentary elections was a great success for the Islamic Republic on the international stage, IRNA reported.

Addressing the worshipers gathered for the weekly congregational prayers at the Tehran University campus, Ayatollah Rafsanjani termed as very "important" the result of elections.

He said the enemies of the Islamic Republic who have launched psychological war against Iran were after sending some figures into the parliament otherwise they preferred that the elections would have been marred.

Rafsanjani who is also Chief of Expediency Council was pleased over the heavy turnout in the 20 February parliamentary elections and said it was a big defeat for Iran's arch-foes the United States.

He said one should know that the US president George W. Bush revealed how successful the Islamic system was in its policies and strategies.

Rafsanjani pointed out that Bush had said he had been disappointed by hearing the results of elections in Iran.

He noted that the chief of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States in a speech in Senate said the US authorities made a mistake in their policies because the US officials had thought that Iran would either move toward electing those who have tendencies toward the United States or it would move towards crisis and civil unrest.

Rafsanjani praised the Iranian masses for keeping vigilant in time of the voting and said if the people had had a low turnout in the elections, then the enemies would have more severely criticized the Islamic system.

He said the active participation of the people from all walks of life have ashamed the enemies of the system and prevented them to direct further criticisms.

Rafsanjani hoped that the next four years would be turning point in determining the fate of the country and called on the officials to follow the directives given by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

He added that the strong turnout of voters in the 7th Majlis elections would cement the national authority and security in the country.

Rafsanjani noted that "the massive participation of the religious, revolutionary, brave and noble people of Iran constituted another epic in the country's history that is more glorious and brilliant than those in the past."

He said the United States is now backing the opposition in Iran to side with the NGOs or spark new struggles against the Iran regime.

He said employing the terms such "illegitimate elections" or "unfair elections" were void of meaning because the elections were held in a fair atmosphere and were meant to contribute to the democratic process in the Iranian society.

Rafsanjani said however that if there had not been a tug-of-war among the political camps and factions in Iran the results of elections would have been yet more eye-catching.

He referred to the Iranian foreign policy and said Iran has put top on its agenda the detente policy and said Iran would keep open its door to all states for cooperation except the United States and Israel.

Referring to the US Secretary of States's report on human rights of countries, he criticized the Untied States for criticizing some countries for their human rights conditions while turning a blind eye on the crime it is committed in many parts of the world.

He said the US had an inhuman behavior towards those it is keeping it its jail in Guantanamo adding that the US is stampeding the human rights of the prisoners in its prison.

Rafsanjani called on the officials to adopt measures not to allow staunch enemies to intervene in Iran's internal affairs. He said the United States and its European allies are after finding a pretext to interfere in Iran's internal affairs and so officials should be quite vigilant not to allow them to pursue their evil aims.

He went on to say that the current circumstances are critical. Touching on Iraq, he supported the will of the Iraqi people to hold elections to take into their hands the fate of their country and said the United States is well aware that it can do nothing in Iraq against the will of the Iraqis.

He commented on the US policies and said the United States has claimed to be in favor of democracy in Iraq but they have made clear that the Iraqis are not allowed to hold the elections in the way they want.