Iran protests to Britain after anti-Tehran groups harass voters in the presidential election

Iran’s chargé d’affaires to London, Ali Matinfar, said on Sunday that the Iranian embassy had sent a message of protest to the UK Foreign Office after hostile elements harassed participants in the first round of the vote on Friday.

The message, he added, also stressed the need to protect the security of Iranians in the upcoming runoff election.

Matinfar further stated that he will pursue the issue in his meetings with British Foreign Office officials this week.

On June 28, thousands of Iranians residing in the UK cast their ballots in 10 polling stations set up in the cities of London, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow and Cardiff for Iran’s presidential election.

At the same time, several hostile elements demonstrated outside polling stations and cursed at voters. The UK police arrested six rioters.

However, the voting process continued without any pause and the voters expressed their strong opposition to moves by the rioters.

More than 24 million people cast their votes in Friday’s election to replace Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who lost his life in a helicopter crash on May 19.

None of the candidates secured the necessary votes to win the race. The top two vote-getters, Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili, will advance to the runoff on July 5.