The Times: A suggestion by the Iranian Ambassador to Britain that his country should foster closer links with Scotland than with England was treated with a mixture of bemusement and horror by Scottish politicians yesterday.

The Times: In an almost deserted polling station in north Tehran yesterday The Times asked the woman in charge how many people had voted. She passed the question to another official. “One hundred and thirty-five,” he replied in Farsi. The woman turned back to us. “More than 300,” she said in English.

The Guardian: Iranians went to the polls yesterday to elect a new parliament, but just as many stayed away out of scepticism that their vote would make any difference.

Daily Telegraph: Iran’s Supreme Leader cast his vote in parliamentary elections yesterday and, in his solemn and severe dark robes, told his compatriots that taking part was their “national and religious duty”.

Washington Times: Maryam Rajavi is leader of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran, an exile group dedicated to the overthrow of the regime in Tehran. Mrs. Rajavi spoke by telephone from Paris with The Washington Times yesterday:

BBC: Iranians have voted in elections which conservatives are expected to win after opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were barred from running.

The Independent: A gay teenager who faces the death penalty if he is forced to return to Iran has won a temporary reprieve after the Home Secretary halted his planned deportation and agreed to reconsider his case.

AFP: Iran on Friday voted in elections expected to tighten the grip of conservatives on parliament after a low-key campaign and the mass disqualification of reformist candidates by a hardline vetting body.

AP: Only a handful of voters showed up at many polling stations in Tehran on Friday in Iran’s parliament elections, a sign of frustration with a vote that hard-liners allied with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are expected to dominate.