Iran's deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi has tested positive to coronavirus amid a major outbreak in the Islamic republic which has seen has reported 95 cases and several people dead.
The deputy minister who was seen sweating profusely during a news conference in Tehran on Monday with government spokesman Ali Rabiei said "I too have been infected with coronavirus, I had a fever as of last night and my preliminary test was positive around midnight, I've isolated myself in a place since. A few minutes ago, I was told that my final test was final, and now I am starting the medication."
An Iranian parliamentarian representing Tehran has also tested positive.
"My corona test is positive ... I don't have a lot of hope of continuing life in this world," Mahmoud Sadeghi wrote on Twitter.
In the same message, he called on the head of Iran's judiciary to release political prisoners to prevent them from getting infected and to allow them to spend the duration of the outbreak with their families.
The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) has said the sudden increase in cases in countries outside China is "deeply concerning".
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday that Washington was concerned that Iran may have concealed "vital details" about its outbreak and urged all nations to "tell the truth about the coronavirus".
More people have died in Iran from the virus than anywhere else outside China. The two countries have strong trading links.
The other countries currently in the spotlight are South Korea and Italy, where cases have surged in recent days.
