Syrians Go to Polls in Iran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Syrian expatriates residing in Iran started to cast ballots at a polling station in Syria’s embassy in Tehran on Wednesday in the presidential elections while several Western European states have barred Syrian voters from reaching polls.
Syrian nationals in Iran began voting in presidential elections at the Arab country’s embassy in Tehran. The polls opened at 7 am local time and will continue for 12 hours, an official with SANA’s news agency in Tehran told Tasnim.
Mohsen Rasough noted that the Syrian embassy hosts the only polling station in the Islamic Republic, expecting a turnout of some 1,000 voters in the presidential elections.
SANA had earlier quoted a source affiliated with Syria’s Foreign Ministry as saying that more than 200,000 Syrian expatriates in 39 countries have registered to vote in the elections.
In the meantime, France, Germany and Belgium have deprived the Syrian voters of the opportunity to participate in the elections, the source said.
Moreover, the Syrians cannot vote in the US and some of the Persian Gulf Arab littoral states due to the closure of Syrian embassies, according to the source.
Syria’s presidential election on the mainland is slated for June 3 and the three candidates, Bashar al-Assad, Maher Abdel Hafiz Hajjar and Hassan Abdullah al-Nuri, have launched their election campaign since May 11.
