Iran’s Vice President Tests Positive For Coronavirus

Iranian Vice President, Masoumeh Ebtekar has tested positive for coronavirus as confirmed in state news in Tehran on Thursday, February 27.

Iran’s Health Ministry spokesman, Kianoush Jahanpour who confirmed the development in a press conference said the tally of infections had risen to 245 with 106 more cases confirmed, the highest number for a single day since Iran announced its first infections on February 19.

Ebtekhar who advises President Hassan Rouhani on family and women’s matters has already been placed under quarantine. Before being appointed as Vice President, she was the spokeswoman for students who took 52 Americans hostage at the US embassy in Tehran in 1979.

In a bid to curb the spread of the disease, the Iranian Government has closed down educational and cultural institutions across the country and reportedly distributed hundreds of thousands of “sanitation packs” to help contain the virus, including to Qom province where local health authorities believe the virus originated.

Recall that Mojtaba Zolnour, head of Iranian parliament on national security and foreign affairs committee also contracted the virus. He appeared in a video posted by Fars news agency saying he was in self-quarantine.