Iran reports 141 new coronavirus deaths, total: 20,643

The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in Iran reached 20,643 on Sunday, with 141 deaths in the past 24 hours, a health ministry official said.

The total number of infections reached 358,905, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported, citing health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari.

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Lari said more than a dozen Iranian provinces, including the capital Tehran, are currently classified as red zones.

Authorities in Iran have divided the country into white, yellow, and red zones, depending on the severity of the coronavirus crisis. Red zones are deemed “high-risk.”

Some Iranian officials have cast doubt on the official coronavirus figures in the country and have accused the health ministry of lack of transparency. There is also skepticism abroad about Iran’s official figures, with concerns the real toll could be much higher.

Nahid Khodakarami, a member of the Tehran city council, said on Sunday that more than 10,000 people have died of coronavirus over the past six months in the capital alone.

The Iranian health ministry does not disclose provincial coronavirus figures and instead only gives out national figures.