Iran's Covid-19 case numbers hit a record high for the second time in as many days on Tuesday, rising to almost 35,000.
The health minister said there was little hope of improvement unless the public followed health precautions, state TV reported.
Iran, the centre of the pandemic in the Middle East, reported 34,951 new cases on Tuesday, after registering a record 31,814 cases on Monday in a fifth wave blamed on the highly transmissible Delta variant. Total deaths rose by 357 to 89,479 on Tuesday.
“If health protocols are followed as they are now, we will not have much hope of getting out of the [high risk] red situation,” Health Minister Saeed Namaki told state television.
Officials say less than 40 per cent of Iranians wear masks or follow other precautions.
State television broadcast scenes from burials of Covid-19 victims, with mourning relatives appealing to the public to follow safety precautions.
The government is being accused on social media of mismanaging the country's slow vaccination drive, with only 2.5 million of the 83 million people fully vaccinated.
Officials blame US sanctions for hampering efforts to buy foreign vaccines and delaying deliveries.
Iran has in recent years been hit by several protests over the economy and living conditions made worse by US sanctions reimposed in 2018.
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A man walks next to buildings where people stay home in Tehran, Iran on March 26, 2020. WANA / Reuters -
A member of Iranian Red Crescent tests people with possible coronavirus Covid-19 symptoms, as police blocked Tehran to Alborz highway. AFP -
A member of Iranian Red Crescent tests passengers of a bus for possible coronavirus Covid-19 symptoms, as police blocked Tehran to Alborz highway. EPA -
A member of Iranian Red Crescent tests people with possible coronavirus Covid-19 symptoms, as police blocked Tehran to Alborz highway. AFP -
Iranian Red Crescents personnel rest in a tent. EPA -
Members of Iranian Red Crescent get themselves disinfected after testing people for possible coronavirus Covid-19 symptoms. EPA -
A man jumps rope at Valiasr street in Tehran. WANA / Reuters -
An Iranian army soldier walks past rows of beds at a temporary 2,000-bed hospital for COVID-19 coronavirus patients set up by the army at the international exhibition center in northern Tehran. AP Photo -
People in protective clothing work in a temporary 2,000-bed hospital for COVID-19 coronavirus patients set up by the Iranian army. AP Photo -
A person in protective clothing walks through a temporary 2,000-bed hospital for COVID-19 coronavirus patients. AP Photo -
A member of the Iranian Army works at a temporary hospital in Tehran. AP Photo -
A statue wearing a protective face mask is pictured at Azadi square, in Tehran. WANA / Reuters -
Iranian workers set a temporary emergency hospital in a part of the world's largest shopping mall complex called 'Iran Mall'. EPA -
The facility is to treat patients infected with the COVID-19 disease, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, in north-west of the capital of Tehran. EPA -
According to the latest report by the Ministry of Health, there are at least 21,638 confirmed cases of coronavirus infections and 1,685 people have died from the virus throughout Iran. EPA -
An Iranian woman health inspector checks a temporary emergency hospital in 'Iran Mall'. EPA -
A general view of a temporary emergency hospital in a part of the world's largest shopping mall complex called 'Iran Mall'. EPA -
Iranian workers set up a makeshift hospital inside the Iran Mall, northwest of Tehran. AFP -
Iran is one of the countries most affected by the devastating pandemic of the coronavirus. EPA -
Iran said that 123 more people had died from coronavirus, raising the official death toll to 1,556 in the Islamic Republic, one of the world's worst affected countries. AFP -
Altogether, more than half of the 18 Iraqi provinces announced curfews for several days in the hopes it could contain the new coronavirus outbreak. AFP
