Tehran Times suspects conspiracy!!!

I'm reproducing this article in full. It is the top headline at the Tehran Times for March 17, 2008.

U.S. biggest loser of Iran poll
Tehran Times Political Desk

TEHRAN -- Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini declared here on Sunday that the United States is the main loser of the parliamentary election in Iran.
“Surely the biggest loser of this election was the United States, and the real winners were the people of Iran,” Hosseini told reporters at his weekly press briefing.
About 60 percent of eligible voters in Iran took part in Friday’s parliamentary elections.
The Western plot to discourage the Iranians from participating in the elections was foiled, the Foreign Ministry spokesman stated.
The U.S. put great pressure on its European allies and other countries sitting on the Security Council to approve additional sanctions against Iran prior to elections in order to discourage people from turning out for polls.

Wow. I'm currently reading The Persian Puzzle which looks at Iranian-American relations. One of the main points the author pushes is that Iranians perceive the United States to be more interested and involved in Iran than it actually is. This article I think is a perfect example of that mentality.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, covered Iran's parliamentary election by reproducing a Reuters article which called into question the legitimacy of the elections, but otherwise does not appear to have paid much attention.