Iranian parliament suspends work over coronavirus spread

Iranian parliament has decided to suspend sessions over coronavirus threat in an unprecedented move. The decision comes after a bunch of top Iranian officials, including lawmakers, contracted the killer virus.

The move was announced on Friday by a spokesman for the legislative body, as the coronavirus continued its spread across the country. According to latest official figures, 388 cases of the virus have been confirmed; 34 people have died.

No time frame for the parliament’s suspension has been declared and the legislative body will remain closed until further notice.

The deadly virus did not spare top officials, including an Iranian vice president, some lawmakers and the Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi – the latter had led the government task force to tackle the spread of the epidemic.

Iran is enduring one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks outside China, from where the virus originated. Globally, over 83,300 cases have been confirmed, while nearly 2,850 died from the virus, with the majority of them in mainland China. Apart from Iran, Italy and South Korea are experiencing major outbreaks as well.

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