Azerbaijan, Baku, Mar. 2 / Trend T.Jafarov /
Vote counting has begun at several polling stations at parliamentary elections in Iran, Iranian media quoted a statement by the country's Central Electoral Commission as saying on Friday.
All stations were closed at 23:00 local time, but the citizens who are inside the stations continue to vote, the CEC deputy chairman Hassan Ali Nouri said.
He added that the preliminary election results will be announced on Saturday morning.
Since polling stations are often placed in schools, the classes in morning and day shift will not be held Saturday in most cities and provinces, especially in Tehran, said Nouri.
Iran's interior minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar stated that during the election there have been no noteworthy incidents.
"The enemies agitated the people against participating in the elections. However, voters have been very active and disappointed the enemies," he said.
Parliamentary elections in Iran began at 8 am Friday and was supposed to finish at 6 pm, but voting hours were extended four times - once for two hours, and three times for one hour.
Over 3,000 candidates compete in the parliamentary elections. The elections took place at 46,062 polling stations. At 14,307 polling stations the election was held by using the mobile ballot boxes.
The election results may be made public in 48 - 72 hours after the election day (from March 2).