Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has also been infected with the coronavirus; the third representative from Qom to fall ill

Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, has tested positive for coronavirus.

The Public Relations Office of the Iranian Parliament reported on Thursday, April 4, that Ali Larijani has contracted the coronavirus and is currently quarantined at home and undergoing treatment.

He is the third representative from Qom in the parliament to contract the disease. The city of Qom was the first epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, and some called for the city to be quarantined in the early days, but this was not done due to pressure from religious authorities, and the coronavirus spread in Iran.

Ahmad Amirabadi and Mojtaba Zolnouri are two other representatives who contracted the coronavirus.

Public opinion in Iran has been concerned about the Iranian authorities' secrecy. The first death from coronavirus was reported on March 1, even though officials had previously denied any cases of coronavirus in Iran.

As of Thursday, April 4, 2020, the Islamic Republic's authorities had officially announced 3,160 deaths and the total number of infected people had reached 50,468. This figure comes despite a World Health Organization official saying that the figures announced by Iranian authorities on the number of people infected with the coronavirus are only one-fifth of the actual number of infected people.

Mike Pompeo also said on Friday, March 29, in a meeting of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, considering the history of concealment by Islamic Republic officials, that the Iranian regime is reluctant to provide information about the spread of the coronavirus, and I am concerned that they may have hidden important information.

This was the second time that the US Secretary of State has expressed concern about possible cover-up by Iranian officials. Mike Pompeo warned on Tuesday that the US was concerned about the Islamic Republic's authorities' cover-up of the coronavirus outbreak.

The United States announced on Thursday that it has granted waivers from sanctions on Iran, allowing Iran's central bank to make financial transfers to send certain humanitarian services.

Source: Voice of America