'Hague’s remarks on Iranian polls are out of UK frustration'

TEHRAN, March 4 (MNA) – Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ramin Mehmanparast on Saturday dismissed as baseless British Foreign Secretary William Hague’s claims about Iran’s March 2 parliamentary election. According to Reuters, Hague claimed on Friday that Iran’s parliamentary election was not free and fair and did not reflect the will of the people. “It has been clear for some time that these elections would not be free and fair. The (Iranian government) has presented the vote as a test of loyalty, rather than an opportunity for people freely to choose their own representatives,” he said in a statement. Mehmanparast said that British foreign secretary’s remarks once again revealed British officials’ interventionist policies and their frustration out of the failure of their hostile plans against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Hague has tried to play down the “grandeur” of the high voter turnout in the free and fair parliamentary election, he said. He added, “We advise British officials to avoid repeating their past flagrant mistakes and ignoring the realities and the dynamic trend of democracy in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and respect the Iranian nation’s choice and bow their heads to the greatness of the Iranian nation and their powerful movement to guard their independence and national interests.”