The parliamentary elections in Iran were extended for one hour until 7 pm local time (1530 GMT), state television reported, according to dpa. Due to the Persian New Year next week, a lot of Iranians used Friday for shopping and preparations for the new year and had no time to go to the polling stations. The interior ministry therefore extended the voting time for another one hour but was expected to further extend it to at least 10 pm (1830 GMT), if not to midnight (2030 GMT).