A member of the Assembly of Experts, which has the power to appoint or dismiss the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has died from the COVID-19 illness caused by the virus, the semi-official Fars and Tasnim news agencies reported Monday.
Ayatollah Hashem Bathaei, 78, is the latest of several senior Iranian officials to have been infected. Cabinet ministers, members of parliament, Revolutionary Guard members and Health Ministry officials have caught the virus, compounding fears about Iran's response to the global pandemic. A member of another clerical body that advises Iran's supreme leader died earlier this month. Several other officials have also died.
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Khamenei, who is 80 years old and has been in power since 1989, wore disposable gloves at a recent public event, apparently as a precaution.
Iran's death toll from the new coronavirus has reached 853, with 129 new deaths in the past 24 hours, a health ministry official tweeted on Monday, adding that a total of 14,991 people have been infected across Iran.
"In the past 24 hours we had 1,053 confirmed new cases of coronavirus and 129 new deaths," Alireza Vahabzadeh tweeted.
To contain the outbreak in Iran, one of the deadliest outside of China, officials have called on people to stay at home.
"Based on the figures, we have past the peak of the outbreak, but I still suggest people stay at home, and in case of urgency, observe all health protocols," said President Hassan Rouhani, according to state TV.
