Iraqi expats vote at polling stations in Iran
Tens of thousands of Iraqis are voting in Iraq’s parliamentary elections at polling stations throughout Iran.
TEHRAN — He’s almost 90, paralyzed, sick, and unable to talk. Still, he insists on casting his vote because, as his son says, he wants to be buried in Iraq.
Abu Hussein is an Iraqi national who lives in Iran, where part of the Iraqi general election is taking place.
At the famous Iraqi neighborhood of Dawlat Abad in south Tehran, the ambience of the electoral contest can be felt with hundreds of pictures and large posters showing candidates and contending lists. It is as if the battle is being fought here.
Mohammed, 20, spoke to me as he prepared his water pipe; he has visited Iraq five times, but to him Iraq isn't home anymore. "I was born here, I like it here, all my friends, memories, plans are in Iran; in Iraq I'm not sure I can have the same security as in Tehran. Still, I'll vote for [Prime Minister Nouri al-] Maliki because I think he's the only one who is going to get us back to Iraq."
