TEHRAN – The spokesman for Iran’s Election Headquarters said the process of vote counting is underway, expressing hope that the final results of the Friday elections in larger cities would be announced by Sunday.

“The colleagues in all polling stations are counting votes and drafting minutes,” Seyed Esmaeil Mousavi said on Saturday.

“God willing, after counting the ballots cast at the stations, the results will be announced to the Election Headquarters,” he said, adding, “We will inform the public of the results of each constituency according to the routine process in the Election Headquarters.”

He further expressed hope that the results of most of the constituencies will be announced on Saturday, saying that in large cities, they are trying to be able to announce the results by Sunday.

The nationwide votes for the parliament and the midterm elections of the Assembly of Experts officially began in Iran on Friday morning and closed at midnight.

In comments after voting just minutes after beginning the elections, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei described the Election Day as a “national celebration” and a day to “restore the civil rights of the nation”.

Ayatollah Khamenei also emphasized that participation in the election is a “religious duty”.

“The election guarantees the country’s national interests, and whoever is interested in the country’s national interests must take part in the election,” the Leader added.

Having gone through a formal qualification process by Iran’s Guardian Council, a total of 7,148 candidates, including dozens of Iranians from the religious minorities, are running for the parliament. There are 290 seats in the parliament up for grabs.