Armenpress
IRANIAN NATIONALS IN ARMENIA LINE UP FOR PRESIDENTIAL RUNOFF
TEHRAN, JUNE 17, ARMENPRESS: Several hundred of Iranian nationals living
in Armenia are lining up in front of Iran’s embassy in Yerevan to cast their
ballots in a presidential runoff and to select between the Expediency
Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani or Tehran Mayor Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, who emerged from the first round with most of votes.
Rafsanjani gained a total of 6,159,452 votes in the first round of the
presidential elections held on June 17 while 5,710,354 people voted in favor
of Ahmadinejad. The deputy Iranian ambassador to Armenia, Ali Akbar Jokra,
said the majority of Iranian nationals in Armenia, in the first round voted
in favor of Rafsanjani, who held the post between 1989 and 1997. He also
said the voter turnout was a little lower today than a week before,
explaining that the majority of Iranians here are students who left for
home. Ambassador Ali Reza Haghighyan reiterated today that regardless of who
is elected next president Iran’s relations with Armenia will not be affected
and they will go on to develop. Candidates require 50 percent of the votes
plus one, officially known as absolute majority to win outright.