TRANSCRIPT
Protesters outside the Iranian embassy in Canberra stood firm against what they call a “fake” election.
Mohammad Hashemi is an Iranian-Australian activist.
"There is no democracy in Iran what we can see is a brutal regime and dictatorship. We are here to send our message and echo the voice of our people in Iran. There are still many people in danger in Iran there are still many people in prison under sentence of execution."
Protests also took place in other Australian cities and some were mobilised by the Australian United Solidarity for Iran, a community-led group supporting a boycott of this election for those living in Iran and abroad.
Rana Dadpour is a spokesperson for the Australian United Solidarity for Iran.
"When we realised that these elections are being held in Australia, it kind of shocked the community that some of these venues are Australian-owned businesses. The community is really upset; many of us moved to Australia in order to be safe and to feel that our voice is being heard."
Dara Conduit is a Middle East expert at the University of Melbourne.
"People who are campaigning against voting are well aware of the role elections play in authoritarian regimes in sort of legitimising and creating this veneer of popularity around a regime."
Some members of the Iranian-Australian community turned out to cast their vote in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and in Melbourne, the Iranian embassy changed some polling locations at the last minute amid community pressure and planned protest activity.
NSW Scouts cancelled their booking with the Iranian embassy this week because of safety fears.
This did not deter those willing to cast their vote.
"I reckon our leader is in the last few years of his life and I think it is really important to use the chance to have a good President at this time."
The Iranian Embassy insisting the Islamic Republic of Iran is a 'dynamic democratic country' telling SBS any well-known professional Iranian with a common-sense definition of being eligible to run as head of an executive branch could register and get the chance to compete.
A chance protesters say does not equate to a fair election process.
