Parliament speaker tests positive on Iran’s deadliest virus day

Iran’s Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said he was going through treatment under home quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus. The former military commander is the latest in a string of over 30 Iranian parliamentarians who have joined the infected population. At least three of them have died.

Ghalibaf’s announcement was perhaps no shock to advisers of President Hassan Rouhani. Earlier in October, Rouhani canceled a meeting with the parliament speaker over infection fears after Ghalibaf visited a hospital in the capital Tehran where COVID-19 patients in critical condition receive treatment. The cancellation sparked a verbal clash between the two top officials and their teams.

The president’s advisers accused Ghalibaf of disregarding special protocols and risking the health of others he regularly meets with. Rouhani also called the hospital visit “irrational” and likened it to “standing in the middle of a flood.” Ghalibaf defended his actions, reminding the president that the Iranian authorities ought to make field visits in support of medical workers. “It is neither fair nor rational to leave alone the medical staff with their limited equipment in the danger zone,” he said.

The parliament speaker was one of nearly 7,000 Iranians who were confirmed infected on Wednesday, when the country’s Health Ministry announced 415 deaths, the highest mortality count since the start of the outbreak in February.