Iran embassy sends protest note to UK gov’t over attempts to disrupt presidential vote

The embassy, in its note, also called on the British government to ensure the security of the Iranian voters during the runoff election set to be held this coming Friday, Iran’s Charge d’affaires Ali Matinfar told the IRNA correspondent in London.

The Iranian diplomat said that he also plans to meet UK foreign ministry officials in the coming days for more follow-ups.

Thousands of Iranian residing in the UK headed to 10 polling stations across the country on June 28 to cast their ballots in the presidential vote.

Five stations were set up in London, the rest were in the cities of Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow, and Cardiff.

While the voting was underway, some Iranians opposed to the Islamic Republic gathered outside the polling stations, trying to cause tension and disrupt the voting process.

The anti-Iran groups threatened and intimidated the voters because of their participation in the election. In one case, some of those individuals chased a female voter and removed her scarf.

British police arrested some of the anti-Iran individuals in Birmingham, Manchester, and London after they clashed with Iranian voters and organizers of the election.

The attempts against the vote were not limited to the election day.

A day ahead of the election, some of the anti-Iran individuals are said to have forced the cancelation of the rent contracts for the voting venues, partly through threatening the owners or raising political issues regarding Iran.

Despite all those measures, the voting process went on smoothly in all polling stations across the UK.