Iran's parliament speaker has become the country's highest-ranking government figure to test positive for coronavirus. Iran's parliament announced Ali Larijani's illness on its website, saying he was receiving treatment in quarantine.
Iran, the epicentre of the virus in the Middle East, has been fighting one of the world's worst outbreaks. Meanwhile, as Israel's case count rose to over 6,800, including 36 deaths, the country was rattled by the diagnosis of its health minister, who has had frequent contact with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Middle East has confirmed over 82,000 cases of the virus and over 3,600 deaths, most of them in Iran. Iran's health ministry said Covid-19 killed another 124 people, pushing the country's death