Former advisor to Zarif latest Iranian official to be infected by coronavirus

A senior Iranian politician and former advisor to current Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has reportedly been infected with coronavirus.

Hossein Sheikholeslam has been infected with coronavirus and is currently hospitalized in Tehran’s Masih Daneshvari hospital, the editor-in-chief of the state-run news website Entekhab, Mostafa Faghihi, tweeted on Monday.

Sheikholeslam was a senior advisor to Foreign Minister Zarif and had previously served as Tehran's ambassador to Syria.

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Several officials have contracted the virus in Iran, which has the highest death toll in the world outside of China, the epicenter of the outbreak.

Expediency Council member Mohammad Mirmohammadi died from coronavirus, state media reported on Monday.

Iran's Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi was reported as having coronavirus by the semi-official news agency ILNA on February 25.

On Thursday, former Justice Minister and Interior Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi was hospitalized with coronavirus symptoms.

On Saturday, Masoumeh Aghapour Alishahi became the latest Iranian member of parliament to announce that she has been infected with coronavirus.

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