Media reports say a 71-year-old top adviser to Ayatollah Khomeini has died after falling ill from coronavirus.
Citing Iranian state radio, The Associated Press (AP) reported that Mohammad Mirmohammadi, a member of the Expediency Council, died from the coronavirus Monday the outbreak stretches across the hardest-hit country outside of China. His mother had reportedly died of coronavirus in recent days as well.
Mirmohammadi reportedly died at a north Tehran hospital due to the virus.
Iran has 1,501 confirmed cases in the country and the virus has killed 66 people in Iran, according to the AP. Iran has the highest death toll in any country outside of China.
Other top officials in Iran have contracted the virus, including Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar and Iraj Harirchi, Deputy Minister of Health also the head of an Iranian government task force on the coronavirus, according to the AP.
Some media outlets say Mojtaba Zolnour a lawmaker representing Qom, the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis in Iran, has also tested positive for COVID-19.
Health Ministry spokesman Ali Reza Raisi told reporters Monday Iran is ready to mobilize 300,000 troops to help combat the virus, according to the AP.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) says the mechanisms it uses to monitor the performance of various countries in relation to their handling of the coronavirus epidemic do not show any cover-up by the Iranian government with regard to Iran’s virus crisis.
Speaking in a televised interview with the CNBC news channel on Monday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the organization, said the WHO’s fact-checking mechanisms have not found any concrete proof that Iran had been covering up the severity of the epidemic, according to Press TV.
IRNA says head of Russia's consumer protection agency voiced her country's preparedness for helping Iran meet its pharmaceutical and medical equipment needs in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic.
Anna Popova reportedly made the remarks at a meeting with Iran's Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali late on Monday.
