Tehran – Iran’s vice president for women and family affairs Masoumeh Ebtekar has been infected with the novel coronavirus, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.
Ebtekar who is the first member of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet, was in a meeting with Rouhani and the Iranian cabinet on Wednesday. However, after she was detected with the virus, she was immediately sent to a quarantine facility.
#Iran coronavirus
— Farnaz Fassihi (@farnazfassihi) February 27, 2020
More officials test positive. Masoumeh Ebtekar, highest ranking female, & MP Zolnour head of parliament’s national security committee.
Yesterday Ebtekar was with Rouhani & cabinet.#كرونا https://t.co/Sn0OrkR8Bj
Iran’s former ambassador to Vatican and Khomeini’s former representative in the Ministry of Islamic Guidance Sayyed Hojatol Eslam Hadi Khosroshai died on Thursday due to coronavirus.
Other Iranian officials, including Iran’s deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi, have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Harirchi on Monday was sweating profusely during a press conference and appeared uneasy.
1 In a press conference yesterday an Iranian government spokesman confidently asserts they have "no problem" containing coronavirus. Alongside him, the country's deputy health minister appears symptomatic, but takes no precautions to cover/isolate himself pic.twitter.com/TuHlK8LHLz
— Karim Sadjadpour (@ksadjadpour) February 25, 2020
A member of the Austrian foreign ministry who visited Iran recently has been infected with coronavirus, the Austrian newspaper Kurier reported.
According to a preliminary analysis by Canadian researchers quoted by IranWire, the true number of coronavirus cases in Iran may be upwards of 18,000.
