Unease in Mideast as Iraq reports its first death and Iran toll hits 92

BAGHDAD/ TEHRAN: Iraq said a 70-year-old Muslim cleric died on Wednesday from the novel coronavirus, the first death from the outbreak in a country where 31 people have been infected.

The Iraqi preacher had been quarantined in the northeastern city of Sulaimaniyah before his death, a spokesman for the Kurdish autonomous region’s health authority said.

According to sources, he had recently met with Iraqis returning from Iran, which has recorded the third deadliest outbreak outside China. Iraq’s health ministry said that it was not clear whether the death had in fact been from the new virus.

Iraq’s border port commission said it would halt trade between Iraq and both Iran and Kuwait for a week from March 8 over coronavirus concerns.

The outbreak disrupted Islamic worship in West Asia as Saudi Arabia on Wednesday banned its citizens and other residents from performing the pilgrimage in Mecca, while Iran canceled Friday prayers across major cities.

Iran, meanwhile, says the coronavirus has killed 92 people amid 2,922 confirmed cases across the Islamic Republic. Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour announced the new figures at a news conference Wednesday in Tehran.

There are now over 3,140 cases of the new virus across West Asia. The coronavirus has sickened top leaders inside Iran’s civilian government and theocracy. Experts now worry that Iran may be underreporting the number of cases it has.