Member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts Dies of COVID-19

The novel coronavirus that has killed more than 700 people in Iran so far took the life of Ayatollah Sayyed Hashem Bathaei, a member of the Assembly of Experts.

News ID: 449641

Date: 17 March 2020 - 09:26

RNA – The novel coronavirus that has killed more than 700 people in Iran so far took the life of Ayatollah Sayyed Hashem Bathaei, a member of the Assembly of Experts, according to Tasnim News Agency.

Ayatollah Bathaei, representative of Tehran in the Assembly of Experts, passed away at age 78 on Monday morning.

The cleric, who had been infected with COVID-19 died at a hospital in Qom, the city where the first cases of coronavirus in Iran were detected.

The Assembly of Experts is a high-ranking body that elects and oversees the activities of the leader of the Islamic Revolution. Members of the assembly are directly elected to office by people for an eight-year term.

The coronavirus has taken the lives of a number of major figures in Iran so far, including newly-elected MP Fatemeh Rahbar; the ex-ambassador to Syria, Hoseyn Sheykholeslam; newly-elected lawmaker, Mohammad-Ali Ramazani; former lawmaker, Mohammad-Reza Rahchamani; former ambassador to Vatican City, Hujjat al-Islam Sayyed Hadi Khosroshahi; adviser to the judiciary chief, Ahmad Toyserkani; and Mojtaba Fazeli, the chief of staff of top cleric Ayatollah Sayyed Musa Shobeyri-Zanjani.

The death toll form coronavirus in Iran rose to 724 on Sunday, while nearly 4,600 patients have recovered from the disease in the country so far.

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