TEHRAN (ISNA) — Iranian health authorities have called for the suspension of all religious celebrations in Qom, after another two people tested positive for the coronavirus in this holy city, in which two people succumbed to the infection.

Kianush Jahanpur

“Two people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Qom and one person in Arak, bringing the total of confirmed cases to five in Iran”, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said in a tweet.

Qom is the seventh metropolis in Iran with a population of more than 1.2 mln people. It is located 140 km to the south of Tehran.

Qom is famous for its many religious seminaries and institutes that offer advanced religious studies, which made this city the largest centre for Shia scholarship in the world. There are an estimated 50,000 seminarians in the city coming from 80 countries, including 6,000 from Pakistan alone.