Iranian president predicts 6 more months of COVID-19 outbreak in Iran

CAIRO - Iranian president warned on Sunday that the COVID-19 pandemic will last at least six more months in the country. Meanwhile, Iraqi deputy minister of health said that Iraq has yet to reach the coronavirus peak.

Iran, the hardest-hit country in the Middle East region, reported 2,020 new cases, bringing the total number of infections to 326,712.

The pandemic has so far claimed the lives of 18,427 in Iran, up by 163 in the past 24 hours. A total of 284,371 coronavirus patients have recovered, while 4,022 are in critical condition.

"Until we obtain a vaccine that is effective and get a sufficient quantity of it ... we will be confronting this situation," said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

In the mean time, Iraqi Deputy Minister of Health Hazim al-Jumaili warned that "Iraq has not yet reached the peak of infections, while the daily coronavirus infections are still registering large numbers."

In Iraq, the tally of coronavirus infections rose to 150,115 after 2,726 new cases were reported.

The country also reported 82 more deaths and 2,271 recovered cases, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 5,392 and the total recoveries to 107,775.

Saudi Arabia's total cases rose by 1,428 to 288,690 and the death toll increased by 37 cases to 3,167.

The kingdom also reported 1,599 more recovered patients, taking the total recoveries to 252,039.

In Turkey, the total number of COVID-19 cases climbed to 240,804 after 1,182 new infections were reported, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted.

The death toll from the virus in the country rose to 5,844 after 15 new fatalities were added in the past 24 hours, Koca said, adding 1,103 more patients recovered, raising the total recoveries to 223,759.

In Qatar, 297 new cases of coronavirus infections were detected, increasing the total number to 112,947, including 184 deaths and 109,709 recoveries.

Israel reported 678 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the tally of coronavirus infections to 83,002.

The death toll of the virus in Israel increased to 600 while the recoveries rose to 57,533.

Oman's Ministry of Health announced 223 new infections, raising the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 81,580, including 513 deaths and 74,691 recoveries.

In Kuwait, the tally of infections rose to 71,713 after 514 new cases were reported, of whom 478 have died and 63,519 recovered.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced 225 new COVID-19 cases and one more death, taking the total infections to 62,525 and the death toll to 357.

The total number of recoveries from the virus in the UAE increased to 56,568 after 323 more fully recovered.

In Morocco, the tally of COVID-19 cases increased to 33,237 after 1,230 daily new cases were added, which included 498 fatalities and 23,347 recoveries.

The Moroccan government extended the state of medical emergency for another month until Sept. 10 amid the recent surge of cases.

Palestine reported 277 new COVID-19 cases, raising the tally of infections in the Palestinian territories to 18,651, including 10,278 recoveries and 104 deaths.

In Lebanon, the number of COVID-19 infections increased by 294 to 6,517, while the death toll remained 78.

The total number of coronavirus cases in Yemen's government-controlled provinces increased to 1,804 after seven new cases were added.

The number of recoveries in the government-controlled areas, including the southern port city of Aden, increased to 913 and the death toll climbed to 515.

Jordan recorded six news cases of coronavirus, increasing the total number of infections since the outbreak of the pandemic to 1,252.