A top Iranian official and member of a council advising Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has died after contracting the COVID-19 coronavirus, The Associated Press reports.
Mohammad Mirmohammadi of Iran's Expediency Council died Monday in a Tehran hospital at the age of 71, state media reported. This, the AP notes, is the first instance of a top official in Iran dying from the coronavirus.
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Iran has so far announced about 1,500 coronavirus cases and 66 deaths, which is the highest death toll outside of China; experts have suggested the number of cases might be higher, the AP notes. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently said the United States has offered to help Iran with its coronavirus response, saying, "Their healthcare infrastructure is not robust and to date, their willingness to share information about what’s really going on inside ... Iran has not been robust and I am very concerned that ... it is Iran that is not sharing information."
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