TEHRAN – Iranian citizens heading to designated polls in some Western countries to cast their votes on Friday were subject to verbal, physical, and sexual abuse, reports and footage show.

Iranian voters in at least seven Western countries – Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Sweden, Australia, and New Zealand – have reported facing harassment and intimidation by anti-Iran thugs waiting outside polling stations.

Some of the attackers have been identified as having ties to terrorist groups like the Mujahedin-e-Khalq terror organization. Others appear to have affiliations with monarchist or separatist outfits. 

A prominent media activist in London shared that he received rape threats and threats of physical violence when he visited a polling station north of the city. He reported that other voters were also subject to the abuse. “The majority of the voters were middle-aged women. They were deeply disturbed by the sexual insults they had experienced,” he said in a post on X. British police have reportedly arrested some of the predators. 

In the United States, an attacker identifying himself as a supporter of the deposed Shah’s son said he managed to prevent a man from voting. “I said I    would crush his brains if dared to vote. He left scared like a dog,” he boasted on X. Below his post, other monarchists encouraged him to find the man and “teach him a lesson.” 

Similar instances happened in other Western nations. One video captured in Germany shows an elderly woman getting her hijab snatched by an unknown female while she was trying to cross the street. An elderly man walking with the help of a walking stick can also be seen getting threatened in the video.

In New Zealand, a separatist filmed himself sexually harassing a female voter by labeling her with derogatory terms. He too boasted about disturbing voters “the entire day” on his social media account.  

With Iran’s presidential elections heading to a run-off, Iranians residing in Western countries say they are scared to practice their voting rights. Some of them have expressed shock at Western authorities' inaction, accusing them of purposefully allowing anti-Iran groups to openly harass citizens. A man in his 50s living in France said he had never experienced anything similar to what he had to endure on June 28. “The people attacking us were literal thugs. They were feral as they watched voters enter polling stations. They screamed profanities at the top of their lungs and even followed some female voters threatening to find their locations and rape them. French police just stood by while we had to withstand all of that.  These people want Iran in shambles and they would do anything to discourage Iranians from loving their countries,” he said on social media.