A member of the advisory body for Iran’s Supreme Leader is among the latest fatalities from Coronavirus.

The death of Expediency Council member Mohammad Mirmohammadi (pictured) was announced as the official number of cases topped 1,500 — but multiple signs point to a far higher figure.

Mirmohammadi was 71. Four MPs, Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar, Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi, and the brother of the Supreme Leader’s daughter-in-law have also tested positive for the virus, and Iran’s former Ambassador to the Vatican died last week.

Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raeesi reported on Monday that there have been 66 deaths among 1,501 cases, a sharp jump from the 978 cases announced on Sunday.

But Dr Abdolreza Fazel, head of the Health Authority in Golestan Province in northern Iran, said there are 594 cases in that area alone. MP Gholam Ali Jafarzadeh Imanabadi said the situation in Gilan Province, also in the north, is critical with hospitals filled to capacity.

Imanabadi said figures released by the Government are “something like a joke”. He noted that disinfection only started 10 days after the outbreak of the virus and hospitaization of hundreds of patients.

The MP said more than 700,000 Iranians from other parts of the country have traveled to Gilan despite the spread of the virus.

An MP for Qom, where the outbreak started, has repeated that the Government is concealing facts and claims at least 10 people are dying from the virus in the city each day.

Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani drew attention to the virus in Iran when he said on February 23 that 50 people had died in Qom alone. He says he has tested positive.

State media pushed back against claims of a cover-up by featuring the statement of World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that there is no evidence — yet — of suppression of cases.