Ali Akbar Velayati, 74, senior adviser on international affairs of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, confirmed nCoV infection.

"Ali Akbar Velayati, who is also the head of Masih Daneshvari Hospital in Tehran, has been in contact with many Covid-19 patients in the past few weeks. He has been infected and is being quarantined," Iran's Tasnim news agency said today. 3/12 said.

Velayati, who was born in 1945, served as head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry from 1981-1997 before becoming a senior foreign policy adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

His Masih Daneshvari Hospital is the leading nCoV-infected patient treatment facility in Iran. Nearly every high-ranking official of the country infected with nCoV is treated here.

However, a hospital spokesman said Mr Velayati wanted to be isolated at home "after showing mild symptoms". Hospital officials also said his condition was improving.

Velayati is Khamenei's second senior adviser infected with nCoV. Earlier, Mohamad Javad Irvani, a member of the Benefit Council, Khamenei's advisory body, died on March 2 after being positive for the virus.

Other senior members of the Iranian government, including Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar and Deputy Minister of Health Iraj Harirchi, Minister of Culture and Tourism Ali Asghar Mounes, Minister of Industries Reza Rahmani, are also positive for nCoV.

Covid-19 appeared in 127 countries and territories around the world after it began in China in December 2019, leaving nearly 135,000 people infected and nearly 5,000 dead.

Iran is the third largest epidemic in the world, with 10,075 cases, 429 deaths and more than 1,100 critical cases. The country has not yet imposed a mandatory blockade, but officials have repeatedly urged people to restrict travel and limit crowds to prevent nCoV from spreading.