2020年2月24日，伊朗首都德黑兰，一名妇女戴着防护面具走在街道边。伊朗政府2月24日誓言要保持透明。此前，伊朗政府被指控掩盖中国境外最致命的冠状病毒COVID-19疫情，并否认死亡人数可能高达50人的说法。
周二，伊朗卫生部副部长伊拉克·哈里奇在举行新闻发布会宣布政府已经控制住了病毒的一天后，被检测出冠状病毒呈阳性。
FARS新闻站在推特上发布的一段视频中可以看到哈里奇，他承认自己的冠状病毒COVID-19测试呈阳性，并承认自己在开始服药时处于隔离状态。他还指出，伊朗卫生当局将成功阻止病毒。
周二，在哈里奇站在新闻发布会上谈论病毒是如何传播的一天后，他发布了这段视频正在伊朗处理。他说，伊朗政府有61例COVID-19确诊病例和12例死亡病例。
根据他的说法，关于伊朗病毒爆发的猜测越来越多，库姆市的议员艾哈迈德·阿米拉巴迪·法拉哈尼声称已经有50人死亡。库姆是伊朗受病毒袭击最严重的城市。Hrirchi对这一说法提出质疑，并表示如果50起死亡事件中有四分之一属实，他将辞职。据英国广播公司报道，法拉哈尼拒绝收回他的说法，并指出他已经向部长提交了一份40人死亡的名单，正在等待他的辞职。
据《商业内幕》报道，截至周二，伊朗官员称已有95例确诊病例，15人死亡。
除了哈里奇承认COVID-19检测呈阳性外，伊朗议会议员马哈茂德·萨德吉周二也承认他的病毒检测呈阳性。“我对在这个世界上继续生活没有太多希望，”萨德吉在他的推特上写道，由BBC.com翻译。
尽管两个不同的伊朗官员检测COVID-19呈阳性，伊朗总统哈桑·鲁哈尼周二对他的国家说，这种病毒是“不速之客，不吉利的客人”
“我们会战胜病毒，”他补充道。
周一，世界卫生组织(世卫组织)总干事召开新闻发布会，谈论该病毒的确诊数字，并称伊朗确诊病例的突然增加“令人深感担忧”
“截至日内瓦时间今天早上6点，中国已向世卫组织报告了77，362例COVID-19病例，包括2618例死亡，”世卫组织总干事特德罗斯·阿德诺姆·格布雷耶苏斯说。
“在中国以外，现在有28个国家的2074例病例和23例死亡。意大利、伊朗伊斯兰共和国和大韩民国病例的突然增加令人深感关切，”他补充说。
IRAN'S DEPUTY HEALTH MINISTER TESTS POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS A DAY AFTER HE TELLS CITIZENS THE VIRUS IS UNDER CONTROL
A woman wears a protective mask while walking along the side of a street in the Iranian capital Tehran on February 24, 2020. - Iran's government vowed on February 24 to be transparent after being accused of covering up the deadliest coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak outside China as it dismissed claims the toll could be as high as 50.
Iran's deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi, tested positive for the widespread coronavirus Tuesday just one day after he held a press conference to announce that the government had the virus under control.
Harirchi can been seen in a video posted to Twitter by FARS News Station, where he admitted that he tested positive for the coronavirus strain known as COVID-19, and that he was isolating himself as he started taking medication. He also noted that Iranian health authorities would be successful in stopping the virus.
Harirchi's video on Tuesday comes just one day after he stood at a press conference to talk about how the virus is being handled in Iran. He said that the Iranian government had 61 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and a dozen deaths.
Following his claim, speculation around the outbreak of the virus in Iran grew, and Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani, a lawmaker from the city of Qom, which has been the country's worst-hit city by the virus, claimed that there had been 50 deaths. Hrirchi disputed this claim and stated that if even a quarter of the 50 claimed deaths were true, he would resign. According to BBC, Farahani refused to retract his claim and noted that he had sent a list of 40 people that have died to the minister and was awaiting his resignation.
According to Business Insider, as of Tuesday, Iranian officials stated that there have been 95 confirmed cases and 15 total deaths.
In addition to Harirchi admitting a positive test for COVID-19, a member of Iran's parliament, Mahmoud Sadeghi, also admitted on Tuesday that he tested positive for the virus. "I don't have a lot of hope of continuing life in this world," Sadeghi wrote on his Twitter, translated by BBC.com.
Despite two different Iranian officials testing positive for COVID-19, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani spoke to his nation on Tuesday, referring to the virus as an "uninvited and inauspicious guest."
"We will get through the virus," he added.
On Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General held a press conference to speak about the virus's confirmed numbers and called the sudden increase in Iran's confirmed cases "deeply concerning."
"As of 6 a.m. Geneva time this morning, China has reported a total of 77,362 cases of COVID-19 to WHO, including 2618 deaths," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
"Outside China, there are now 2074 cases in 28 countries and 23 deaths. The sudden increases of cases in Italy, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Korea is deeply concerning," he added.
