Outrage over Biden allowing Iran’s terrorist-sponsoring regime to hold voting in U.S.

The Biden administration recently allowed Iranian citizens to vote in the totalitarian regime's sham presidential election from makeshift booths in a handful of U.S. hotels, drawing the ire of the terror-sponsoring nation.

Biden green-lighted Iranian regime voting stations across America for election of the president of the Islamic Republic. The contest on Friday resulted in the victory of Masoud Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon, over the former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.  Pezeshkian secured secured 53.3% of the vote while Jalili received 44.3%.

Many Iranian observers bitterly complained on X that the mainstream media had falsely framed the election as a vote between the "reformer" Pezeshkian and the "hardliner" Jalili. 

Kaveh Shahrooz, an Iranian-Canadian expert on Iran’s regime, urged a "two-front battle" to debunk the myth that Pezeshkian is a reformer and to unite the Iranian opposition against the regime in Tehran.

"But now, with the selection of a ‘reformist’ president, they will revive their lies about the Iranian regime's capacity for change," wrote Shahrooz.

The largely symbolic presidential position is controlled by the unelected Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei, who has the final word on domestic and foreign policies. Khamenei selects who can run for president. Hence, Iranians call it a "selection" and not a real election.

Last Friday’s first round of voting saw the lowest participation since the country’s 1979 Islamic revolution established a theocratic state. The Iranian regime’s Interior Ministry said that yesterday’s election produced over 30 million votes. The alleged turnout of 50% in the run-off election was higher than the first round (40%) on June 2, but still low by historical standards. Eyewitness reports and videos showed empty polling stations in Iran.

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Lisa Daftari, a leading Iranian-American expert on the Islamic Republic and editor-in-chief of the Foreign Desk, told Fox News Digital the U.S. should not have facilitated voting.

"The Biden administration's decision to allow the regime to extend its influence onto U.S. soil is deeply troubling," Daftari said. "The Islamic Republic has a history of violence against Americans and continues to hold American citizens hostage. It’s perplexing why any administration would grant access to such a rogue and murderous regime."

Daftari called it "ironic" that Iran appeared to target voters in the United States due to a lack of voter turnout at home.

"Many Iranians refused to legitimize the regime by voting, yet Washington permitted this regime to establish polling stations on American soil," she said. "This decision raises serious questions about past and present foreign policy strategies of the current administration, particularly in emboldening the regime in Iran."

When asked about the criticism of holding elections for the clerical regime on American soil, a U.S. State Department spokesperson referred Fox News Digital to Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel's remarks

"In this context foreign governments carrying out election-related activities in the U.S., they need to do so in a manner that is consistent with U.S. law and regulation," Patel said. "We respect the rights of Iranian citizens and the diaspora protesting Iran’s elections or choosing to participate in Iran’s elections. And I will also just note that the Iranians have conducted this kind of activity in the United States before, so this is nothing new, and as have a number of other governments, especially in the time that I have worked here as well."

Patel said the U.S. does not believe the Iranian elections are free or fair, and does not expect them to "lead to a fundamental change in Iran’s direction or lead the Iranian regime to offer more respect for human rights and more dignity for its citizens."

Fox News Digital learned that at a polling location at a hotel in Lynnwood, Washington, on June 28, a security guard allegedly assaulted an Iranian-American who had objected to the election.  

According to the police report obtained by Fox News Digital, a hotel security guard "grabbed her arm and attempted to seize her phone." The police officer reviewed a video of the confrontation and noted he that "did not observe" the security guard issuing the Iranian-American a warning that her phone would be seized before his attempt to take it.

A Lynwood police official said the criminal complaint was forwarded to the prosecutor’s office for review.

The Iranian-American woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Fox News Digital she was stunned to learn that the regime was collecting votes just a few miles from her home.

"I left Iran about two decades ago, leaving behind my family, my friends, my hometown, the neighborhood I grew up in, all because I could not live under a regime that told me what to wear, what to say, what to do, what to see and what to unsee … a regime that would kill and torture its own people to suppress any opposing voice," she said. "So when I learned that there will be a voting station for the regime who kills, rapes and tortures my brothers and sisters, in my home state, I was shocked."

Fox News Digital left repeated messages for the hotel manager and the security guard, but none was returned. 

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Fox News Digital confirmed on Friday that the run-off vote had not taken place at the Lynwood hotel, but had been relocated to another Seattle-area hotel.

After Iranian-Americans and Iranian-Canadians showed up at the second hotel to protest on Friday, the manager canceled the vote. 

Iran’s regime announced the polling locations through its representative in the U.S., the Pakistani embassy in Washington D.C. A link is published that lists the voting locations in more than 30 U.S. cities. The information about voting was released on each Friday, ostensibly to prevent organized demonstrations against the Iranian regime election.

Video footage and photographs showed protests against the polling stations in Massachusetts, Arizona, California and Washington.

According to a Voice of America report, voting took place in the first round  at hotels and various other properties in Nebraska, New York, California, Texas, New Jersey, Ohio, Arizona, Chicago, Illinois and Kansas. 

Emma Roberts claims she's lost jobs because of famous family members: 'People have opinions'

When it comes to her career in Hollywood, Emma Roberts claims to have lost jobs due to something completely out of her control. 

In a new interview with Flaunt, the "Scream Queens" actress, whose father is actor Eric Roberts and aunt is Academy Award-winning actress Julia Roberts, opened up about the pros and cons to having famous family members and explained how her acting career has been affected. 

"I’ve lost more jobs than I’ve gained from being in the business," said Roberts. "People have opinions, and sometimes maybe they’re not good opinions of people in your family. I’ve never gotten a job because of it, I know I definitely have lost a couple of jobs because of it."

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One of her "biggest heartbreaks" came when she was only nine years old when she lost out on the role of Wendy in the 2003 film, "Peter Pan."

"I came very close. I had a British accent," she recently told Variety. "I was very impressed with myself, but I didn’t get the part."

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"The one that got away in the beginning was ‘I Am Sam,’ which the amazing Dakota Fanning obviously got," she added. "I came close, but the feedback was, ‘You’re a little on the older side,’ and I was nine. To be told you’re on the older side at nine, I was like, ‘There’s my thick skin. It grew right there.’"

Last month, Roberts questioned whether men have it easier than women when it comes to the controversial Hollywood discussion surrounding "nepo babies."

"People definitely have preconceived notions of you," Roberts, 33, told Bruce Bozzi on his podcast "Table for Two" of being born into a famous family. 

"I think there's two sides of the coin, you know. People like to say, 'You have a leg up, because you have family in the industry,' but then the other side to that is, you know, you have to prove yourself more," she explained. "Also, if people don't have [a] good experience maybe with other people in your family, then you'll never get the chance."

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"I think there's something to be said where everybody loves the kind of overnight success story," she continued. "And so, if you're kind of not the girl from the middle of nowhere that broke into Hollywood, you know there's kind of an eye roll of like, ‘Well, your dad was this.’ I always joke, I'm like, ‘Why is no one calling out George Clooney for being a nepo baby? [His aunt] Rosemary Clooney was an icon,'" she said of the late singer and actress.

Though Roberts has previously stated she's never aspired to be her aunt, she admitted she'd "love to find the perfect project" for them to work on together. 

"I know that there will be something. But it’s never been the right thing," she told Variety. "She’s the best, and I want to do something with her. We send each other books and talk about stuff, but it hasn’t been right."

"I watch her movies when I’m on location, and I’m by myself," she added, referencing some of Julia's classics. "I have movies of hers downloaded on my computer that I watch for comfort. ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ and ‘America’s Sweethearts’ are my safe movies."

Fox News Digital's Caroline Thayer contributed to this report. 

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