The President of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, on Wednesday announced he was self-isolating after testing positive for the coronavirus.
Ghalibaf hoped he could nevertheless continue working in quarantine, the 58-year-old politician wrote on Twitter.
Ghalibaf, who has been leading Iran’s parliament since May, had been travelling a lot in recent weeks despite experts’ advice not to do so.
President Hassan Rowhani, on the other hand, has been adhering to the strict coronavirus regulations and did not attend most meetings in person, a decision that was criticised by Ghalibaf’s supporters.
Iran has introduced renewed lockdowns in several large cities due to spiking infection numbers. Half of civil servants in Tehran have been ordered to work from home.
More than 580,000 people have contracted the coronavirus in Iran, with 33,000 fatalities related to the infection, according to the Health Ministry.
