TEHRAN, Nov 4: The Iranian press on Thursday derided US President George W. Bush's re-election as a victory for violence on the 25th anniversary of the storming of the former American embassy in Tehran.

"Bush's victory proves that Americans themselves naturally lean towards violence," the Siassat Rouz (Politics of the Day) newspaper charged.

"The United States is intrinsically opposed to the Islamic republic on matters such as Israel, the Middle East peace process, nuclear technology, human rights and democracy."

The paper also said it expected "new hostile measures and new accusations from the United States".

The United States and its top ally in the Middle East, Israel, both accuse Tehran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, with Washington wanting to bring the Islamic republic before the UN Security Council to face sanctions.

During his previous mandate, Bush included Iran, along with Saddam Hussein's Iraq and North Korea, in his "axis of evil".

Ressalat (Mission) predicted a worse-case scenario which would see a "policy of violence disregarding international principles and European alliances".

The reformist Shargh (East) newspaper said that "The American people have re-elected a man who not only has enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also in Iran, France, Germany and even England."-AFP