Iran – Sham Elections Second Round – No. 3
Low turnout in election spectacle across the country; regime’s propaganda to show high participation, setting the stage for large-scale fraud
Based on reports received from 31 provinces of the country, until 15:00 (3:00 PM), the regime’s polling centers remain empty, and the regime has failed to bring people to the ballot boxes. Media outlets affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have begun broadcasting false news about increased participation compared to the first round to prepare the ground for widespread fraud.
This afternoon, not a single voter was present at the polling stations on Helal Ahmar Street, Saadat Abad, and Allameh Street in Tehran. At the Imam Hussein Mosque station, 3 people; Khomeini Mosque, 2 people; Imam Hassan Mosque, 15 people; Haj Hussein Elementary School, 2 people; Al-Nabi Mosque in Narmak, 10 people; and in the morning hours at Musa ibn Jafar Mosque station, 2 people; Qasemi Technical School, 3 people; Hejab Elementary School, 3 people; and Saei High School, 8 voters were observed. Several polling stations from Imam Hussein Square towards Darvazeh Dolat have been closed.
In Mashhad, the regime has brought a number of Afghan agents to the Javad al-A’emmeh Mosque polling station. At the Imam Hassan Mosque and Roghayeh Mosque stations, voters were few and far between. At 13:00 (1:00 PM), 8 people were present at the Seyyed Mosque in Isfahan and 2 voters at the Navvab Safavi Elementary School. In Shiraz, Sari, Tabriz, Sarab, Kerman, Borazjan, Mahshahr, Yazd, Kish, Semirom, Andimeshk, Sanandaj, Bukan, Oshnavieh, Kermanshah, Urmia, Faresan in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Eslamshahr, Ahvaz, and other cities, voters were rarely seen until 15:00 (3:00 PM).
In Tehran, the regime has announced to job seekers that participation in the elections is a condition for employment. In Shadegan and Abadan, the regime has resorted to Arab tribal sheiks to encourage Arab compatriots to vote. In Shiraz, the regime’s mercenaries have approached families of prisoners, promising to release their children if they vote, but the families respond that they will not accept such a disgrace.
In Khorramdarreh, the mother of one of the injured from the 2022 uprising was asking people not to vote when Basij members attacked her. People clashed with the mercenaries in support of this mother. The SSF (State Security Force) agents arrested this mother and the people who had come to her aid.
In Saravan, regime mercenaries brought ballot boxes to the Seddiq Akbar Mosque in a minibus to collect votes from worshippers, but brave youths set fire to the boxes and the minibus, forcing them to remove the minibus with a tow truck. In Koohrang, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Jalili’s supporters stole ballot boxes in the villages of Ali Abad and Fereydoun Abad. In Aq Qala (Golestan Province), the regime has brought Basij women to polling stations to vote for Jalili. In some polling stations in Yazd, voters were given a plate of rice and Gheimeh stew, but no one was there to vote. In Qaemshahr, government agents were threatening people to vote for Jalili.
Suppressive forces in Tehran have deployed a large number of personnel on Enghelab Street and Ferdowsi Square. At the City Theater, special units are present with 20 motorcycles, 3 large vans, 2 patrol vehicles, and one Nissan belonging to SSF. In Vali Asr Square, IRGC forces and special units are deployed with 10 IRGC motorcycles, 20 special unit motorcycles, and one Nissan from SSF. On Keshavarz Boulevard, there are many plainclothes motorcycles, and in front of Tehran University, an IRGC intelligence Nissan is patrolling. At the intersection of Azadi and Tohid, one SSF patrol and one SSF Samand patrol are stationed.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
5 July 2024
