Muhammad Haj Abulkasmi, commander of the Basij battalions in the capital of Tehran and the intelligence man, is the new victim of the outbreak that shakes the Islamic Republic

• Commander of the Basij Brigades in Tehran Muhammad Haj Abulkasmi

Another Iranian official joins the list of heads of government in the country who have died as a result of the outbreak of the Corona virus in the country, the Iranian news agency Tasanim reported.

The senior, commandant of the Basij battalions in the Tehran region and Iranian intelligence service Muhammad Hajj Abulkasmi died in a hospital in the capital after contracting the deadly virus. His relatives told out-of-state media outlets that he would likely speak to the virus while performing his job after not issuing a warning about meeting or avoiding contact.

Photo: Reuters

Abulkasmi, 71, served as a senior commander in the Revolutionary Guards People's Militia and was in charge of suppressing numerous protests against the regime. Abulcasmi also served as an intelligence man after the Iran-Iraq war and as an adviser to the city authorities, Ray, a local authority within the Tehran metropolis.

Sites affiliated with the expatriate opposition celebrated the death of Abulcasmi and dubbed him a "butcher" and "executioner," due to the part of the Basij militia in the brutal repression of the country's protests last year, which saw the deaths of hundreds of people.

Rouhani admitted: "The Corona is out of control"

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani today said in an unusual statement that "the Corona virus has spread in almost the entire country." This message came after Iran took a very unusual step yesterday: the temporary release of 54,000 prisoners subject to bail, in an attempt to curb the infection.



To date, 92 people have died of the Corona virus in Iran and have 2,922, including many senior officials. The current rate of infection in Iran is the highest in the world - with 586 new patients, followed by South Korea with 435 new patients and in China - 13.

Majles Deputy Speaker Ali Muthhari said that 23 MPs were in Corona. This means that 8% of Majles members have been infected with the virus. Also, Mohammed Mir Muhammadi, Member of the Council for Security Interest and associate of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Died of the virus.

Rouhani himself had to deal with an unusual letter in the last day received from a group of workers warning of the spread of corona among oil and gas drilling workers in the southern state. If the oil fields are settled, Iran, which is also in poor economic condition, could collapse. Another hard line for Rouhani was that his assistant, Ahmed Jawad Ironi, was infected with Corona. On the global level, Iran ranks fourth in the total number of viruses from all over the world - after China, South Korea and Italy.