Former Iranian Foreign Minister Dies Of COVID-19

Iran’s former Deputy Foreign Minister, Hussein Sheikholeslam has died after contracting the Covid-19 virus.

The 67-year old diplomat died early Friday morning in a hospital in Iran’s capital city Tehran, Tasnim news agency reported.

In a press release, Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, described him as a friend and always fair -minded diplomat.

Sheikholeslam was deputy foreign minister throughout the 1980s and then had roles as Iran’s ambassador to Syria, a member of parliament and was most recently a foreign policy advisor to the Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani.

In Iran more than 3,500 people have been infected with coronavirus and 107 have died.