Iran has condemned the US’s interference in the affairs of Bolivia as well as coup d’état-style action against the South American country’s legal president, who was recently forced to resign and leave the homeland under pressure from the army amid violent post-election protests.

“Any forceful change of governments outside legal frameworks, particularly by foreign interference, is condemned and unacceptable,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Tuesday.

He said Iran believes any such change “should reflect the people’s will and come about at ballot boxes within the framework of law.”

The official expressed hope that the Bolivian people and various political groups would make use of their country’s political and legal potential in order to achieve a peaceful solution to the existing crisis, without resorting to turbulence, violence, and fight.

Bolivian President Evo Morales won Bolivia’s October 20 presidential election. The opposition, however, rejected the outcome and said there had been fraud in the election process.

That sparked violent street protests, which left three people dead and hundreds more wounded, in what the Morales government called a coup bid.

Morales called for re-elections on Sunday after a report by the Organization of American States (OAS) reported irregularities in the election.

Shortly afterwards, however, Morales said he was resigning as president following calls by senior army and police officials. He later left Bolivia for Mexico under pressure from the military and political opponents.

Morales’ shock resignation has drawn condemnations from Latin America’s leftist governments and prominent politicians, many of whom echoed Morales and branded the developments in Bolivia as a “coup d’état.”

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