Spokesperson from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Saeed Khatibzadeh, announced that the Iranian presidential election will be held in 133 countries (other than Iran) with 234 ballot boxes on 5 continents. Khatibzadeh added that voting is not possible in three countries: Canada (which refused to accommodate the election), Yemen (because of war) and Singapore (because of COVID).
A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission, Esmail Mousavi, lashed out at the Canadian government, accusing them of preventing Iranian citizens of Canada from participating in the election. Canada and Iran have not had diplomatic relations since 2012, meaning that there is no Iranian embassy or consulate in which Iranian citizens can vote in Canada, and Canada has not allowed the Iranian government to set up any polling station inside the country since diplomatic relations broke a decade ago, citing the meaninglessness of Iran’s elections and the lack of legal obligation for Canada to allow the vote. Mousavi said that Iran will organise voting stations inside the United States near the Canadian border to cater for its citizens in Canada.