The No. 2 diplomat at the Iranian Embassy in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, has resigned in protest of the hard-line government in Tehran, Finland's national news agency and the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

For more than a month before his resignation last week, former charge d'affaires Hossein Alizadeh hadn't been at the embassy, the FNB news agency said.

Alizadeh, a veteran diplomat who reportedly had worked for the Iranian Foreign Ministry for more than 20 years, said he quit because he believed last year's presidential election in Iran was unfair and marked by cheating. He also declared his support for Iran's opposition "green movement."

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