Ali Larijani, 62, president of Iran's parliament, identified positive for nCoV and is being quarantined.

Iranian state television today reported that Parliament chairman Larijani was tested for nCoV after showing some symptoms and the result was positive. He is currently isolated and treated.

Larijani, 62, became one of Iran's top officials infected with nCoV. Earlier, Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar, Chairman of the Iranian National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Security Committee Mojtaba Zolnour, Congressman Mahmoud Sadeghi and Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi were also infected with the virus.

Rabbi Hadi Khosroshahi of Qom City, a former Iranian ambassador to the Vatican after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, died of the virus.

Iran today reported an additional 3,111 cases and 124 deaths, bringing the number of cases and deaths to 3,160 and 50,468, while 16,711 people have recovered.

Larijani, who has been chairing the Iranian parliament since May 2008, said last week that Iran is controlling Covid-19 better than many other countries. "Thanks to measures implemented by the Ministry of Health and the armed forces, Iran is leading many countries around the world in the fight against nCoV," he said.

Iran recorded the first case of nCoV on February 19. After weeks of not applying isolation or blockade measures, Tehran last week decided to ban all inter-provincial travel activities at least until April 8.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned at a cabinet meeting today that Covid-19 could last for months, even through the end of the year. According to the Persian calendar, this year's Iran will end in March 2021.

Rouhani also said that Iran could implement more restrictive measures to prevent Covid-19. Iran has closed schools, canceled prayer services, closed parliament and major Shiite Muslim pilgrimage sites to prevent the virus from spreading.