Election Day shooting wounds four in Iran

Four people were wounded by gunfire in an Iranian town on Friday in a shooting between rival factions during the second round of parliamentary elections.

An argument between supporters of hard-liners and reformists escalated into violence during the country's runoff election, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

The shooting happened in Mamassani, in the southern province of Fars, where a conservative candidate is competing against a reformist for a single parliament seat.

Millions have been voting in the elections for 68 seats – almost a quarter of the 290-seat parliament.

"Some people have shot bullets in this town without any specific targets," said the interior minister's deputy for security Hossein Zolfaghari.

Zolfaghari said the shooting was a "reaction of the supporters of the candidates", without giving further details.

"Safety is restored in the city now and the security forces continue looking for the identified shooters."

The rare outbreak of violence during the vote underlines the tension between the two camps as control of the Islamic Republic's parliament hangs in the balance.

The country's parliamentary runoff elections is a key poll expected to decide exactly how much power moderate forces backing President Hassan Rouhani will have in the next legislature.

Agencies contributed to this report