Tehran: A member of a council that advises Iran's supreme leader died on Monday from the new coronavirus, becoming the highest-ranking official within the Islamic republic's Shiite theocracy to be killed by the illness ravaging the country.
The death of Expediency Council member Mohammad Mirmohammadi came as Iran announced the virus had killed at least 66 people among 1,501 confirmed cases. There are now 1,700 cases of the new coronavirus across the Mideast. Of those outside Iran, most link back to the Islamic republic, which after China has the highest death toll from the COVID-19 illness caused by the virus.
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After downplaying the coronavirus as recently as last week, Iranian authorities said that they have plans to potentially mobilise 3,00,000 soldiers and volunteers to confront the virus.
Yet experts still worry Iran's percentage of deaths to infections, now around 4.4%, is much higher than other countries, suggesting the number of infections in Iran may be much higher than current figures show. Saudi Arabia and Jordan meanwhile announced their first cases of the virus on Monday.
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Mirmohammadi, 71, died at a north Tehran hospital of the virus, state media said. His mother had reportedly died of the coronavirus in recent days as well.
Mirmohammadi, though not particularly well-known to the Iranian public, served as a top official in the presidencies of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Ali Khamenei, now the country's supreme leader. The state-run IRNA news agency described Mirmohammadi, whose father also once served on the Expediency Council, as having a close relationship to Khamenei.
With inputs from AP
