Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular, Parliamentary and Iranian Affairs Hassan Ghashghavi, who also chairs the committee for monitoring presidential elections abroad, stated that the process for holding ballots outside the country has been underway for five months and regulate sessions have been taken in coordination with Iran’s Guardian’s Council.
“Ballots for presidential elections will be held in 103 countries as well as that polling boxes will be present in 132 embassies and consulates and 279 centers,” he continued.
He said despite presence of 400 Iranian citizens in Canada, negotiations on respecting citizenship rights for Iranians residing in Canada have so far yielded no results due to lack of diplomatic ties with the North American country.
He noted that 30 ballot boxes will be located in various American cities, 19 in the UAE and 12 in Britain proportionately to populations of Iranians in every country.
Ghashghavi said one difficulty barrier to holding elections in foreign countries is that votes are collected on Friday which is a weekday in other countries forcing Iranians to take a leave from work. The issue will naturally reduce polls in elections.
He went on to emphasize that all rules and regulation defined in law had to be respected and followed in order to hold healthy elections both inside and outside the country.
Deputy Iranian foreign minister said all members of the executive delegation had been appointed stressing that Foreign Ministry of Iran has taken all necessary steps precisely and was ahead of deadlines.
“All requirements for the ballots have been transferred to polling stations abroad with maximum security,” stated Ghashghavi underlining that Foreign Ministry was fully ready for the 12 presidential elections.
The official maintained that polls of Iranians in foreign countries grow in every round of elections. He later appreciated host countries for preparing grounds for safe and secure presence of Iranian citizens at ballots by showing respect to principles of democracy.
Deputy FM said the minority who form the opposition against Islamic Republic of Iran should not be allowed to ruin tights of the other 95% who seek to participate in elections. As such, Ghashghavi urged host countries not to issue permits for demonstrations near ballot boxes since the move will be contrary to democracy.
He said statistics revealed that approximately 2.5 million Iranians residing in foreign countries were eligible to participate in elections.
Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular, Parliamentary and Iranian Affairs Hassan Ghashghavi also said results of elections in agencies located in other countries will become known on the evening of election’s day unless unexpected incident occur; “candidates are allowed to deploy representatives to poll stations though representatives of Guardian’s Council are already present there.”
The official asserted that Iranians living abroad could make inquiries on election procedures through email addresses which will be announced by every individual agency abroad.
At the end of his remarks, Deputy FM Ghashghavi referred to importance of participation by Iranian citizens residing in foreign countries and invited the media to highlight effects of casting votes on their lives and destiny.
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