Tehran, Aug 27 (DPA) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the West of supporting protests this summer against alleged election fraud because it wanted to retaliate against him and his policies of the past four years, the official news agency IRNA reported Thursday.

'They have been humiliated in the last four years and, therefore, wanted to take revenge by encouraging continued unrest' after the June 12 presidential election, Ahmadinejad said.

Iran has accused the West of interfering in Iran's internal affairs by supporting protesters who accused Ahmadinejad, who was re-elected, and the government of election fraud and decried mass arrests of Ahmadinejad critics.

'Like you have been slapped in the face by the Iranian people in the last three decades, you have also been slapped this time,' Ahmadinejad said Wednesday at the presidential office at an iftar dinner, the evening meal that breaks the daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan. He was referring to the 30 years since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Iran was especially angered by the refusal of European Union leaders to congratulate Ahmadinejad on his re-election although the president himself shrugged it off.

'Although they (the West) did not act rationally, I still hope they can make amends for their mistake by making a global commitment not to interfere in Iran anymore,' Ahmadinejad said.