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Parliament speaker tests positive on Iran’s deadliest virus day

Iran’s hard-line parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has tested positive for the coronavirus as the pandemic rages the country.
Iranian Mohamad Bagher Ghalibaf (C) sits among members of the parliament after being elected as parliament speaker at the Iranian parliament in Tehran on May 28, 2020. - Iran's newly formed parliament elected the former Tehran mayor Ghalibaf as its speaker, consolidating the power of conservatives ahead of next year's presidential election. State television said the 58-year-old received 230 votes out of the 267 cast to secure the post, one of the most influential positions in the Islamic republic. (Photo by

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.

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