At Least Six Lawmakers In Iran Test Positive For Coronavirus
Radio Farda July 08, 2020
At least six members of the newly elected Majles (Iranian parliament) have tested positive for the deadly coronavirus as a new wave of the epidemic is raging in Iran.
The latest victim is the representative of the city of Oroumieh (Urmia), Vahid Jalalzadeh.
A former Governor of West Azerbaijan (2009 to 2013 in the Government of hardline former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad), Jalalizadeh has been quarantined, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)-linked Fars news agency reported on Wednesday, July 8.
Earlier, the spokesman for the parliament's presidium, Mohammad Hossein Farhangi, had announced that more than 100 members of Majles had taken the coronavirus test and that "about seven of them have been tested positive."
The seventh victim has not yet been identified.
Meanwhile, the Tabnak website reported that a representative of Kerman to Majles, Mohammad Mehdi Zahedi, was the first victim of the deadly virus in the Islamic Republic's new parliament.
Suffering from respiratory complications, Zahedi is currently in ICU, Tabnak disclosed.
Immediately before the 11th parliament's inauguration, Ms. Fatemeh Rahbar and Mohammad Ali Ramezani, elected from Tehran and Astana Ashrafieh respectively, had died of COVID-19.
In the previous term of the parliament, several deputies contracted coronavirus. It was announced that the principal cause of their infection was a representative from Qom, Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani, who attended Majles sessions regardless of his grave physical condition.
The city of Qom was the epicenter of the deadly virus outbreak across Iran in February and March. Numerous observers believe that Chinese students at the city's Shiite seminaries have been responsible for spreading the coronavirus.
Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/seven- lawmakers-in-iran-test-positive-for- coronavirus/30714726.html
Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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