New Delhi [India], June 28 : Iran consulate in Hyderabad has set up a ballot box for eligible voters of the Iran election to vote in the fourteenth presidential election that is being held in Iran, after the last president, Ebrahim Raisi, died in a helicopter crash last month.
While speaking to ANI, Consul General Mahdi Shahrokhi said that the ballot boxes are placed only in four places in India, namely New Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, and Hyderabad.
"We are having the fourteenth presidential election in Iran and other cities around the globe, with three other ballot boxes in India, Mumbai, and Pune. We are having this election. We started the election process at 8 am and we will continue until 6 pm We are expecting Iranians of Iranian descent to take part in this election. Of course, all Iranian residents here are not eligible to vote," said the Consulate General of Iran in Hyderabad.
Further, he also clarified that those who have Iranian passports and the whole Iranian nationality can take part in this election
"Iran has been holding different elections, whether for parliament, the cities, or the presidential elections. It's a system of democracy in which people will decide upon their future," said Mahdi Shahrokhi.
The Iranian consulate also said that Iran's community in Hyderabad is small, with around 1,000 members, adding he also made it clear that Iranians with Indian nationality, though born in Iran, are not eligible to vote.
"As I told you, we have a small community here in Hyderabad. The number of Iranians could be around 1,000, but because they have different residential situations, I don't have an exact number. As I told you, if they have Indian nationality, while they are from Iran, from Iranian background, but they are not eligible to vote," Mahdi Shahrokhi said.
Following this, an Iranian resident living in Bangalore, Samayi Bisharati, also spoke to ANI. She lives in Bangalore with her Indian husband and children.
While speaking to ANI, she said that they drove approximately ten and a half hours from Bangalore.
"My name is Samayi Bisharati. I'm an Iranian resident living in Bangalore with my Indian husband and children. We drove over 10 and a half hours from Bangalore. The whole family, I drove down to head rubber, so they could support me in casting my vote in the ballot box," said an Iranian resident living in Banglore.
After casting her vote, she said, She's been voting in Iranian presidential elections since she was eligible, and she also disclosed that this is her second time voting in India, with her first vote cast in Bangalore and now in Hyderabad."
No, I've been voting for, I think, since I was qualified to vote. So this is the 14th presidential election in which I'm taking part. And in the previous election, I was in Iran, so I cast my vote while I was in Iran. And then this is the second election in which I'm casting my vote in India. The first one was in Bangalore. The second one is in Hyderabad. said Samayi Bisharati.
The polls have opened for the snap presidential elections in Iran on Friday, to elect the successor of Ebrahim Raisi, who met a tragic fate in a chopper crash on May 19 this year. 58,640 polling stations are set up across the country in public spaces, including mosques and schools.
Notably, polling centres have been set up in these Indian cities, so that Iranians living in India can cast their vote
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