U.S. Embassy in Tehran

A member of a council that advises Iran's supreme leader died on March 2 after falling sick from the new coronavirus, state radio reported, becoming the first top official to succumb to the illness that is affecting members of the Islamic Republic's leadership.

Expediency Council member Mohammad Mirmohammadi died at a Tehran hospital of the virus, state radio said. He was 71.

The U.S. and Iran stepped back from the brink of possible war on Jan. 8 as President Donald Trump signaled he would not retaliate militarily for Iran's missile strikes on Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops. No one was harmed in the strikes, but U.S. forces in the region remained on high alert.

Iran struck back at the United States early on Jan. 8 for killing a top Revolutionary Guard commander, firing a series of ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq that house American troops in a major escalation between the two longtime foes.

Iran has offered "constructive solutions" to resolve disputes in nuclear talks with six major powers, the Iranian Students news agency ISNA reported on July 8, but Western officials suggested they had heard nothing new from Tehran. 

Corruption thrives in the absence of free media, according to Masoumeh Ebtekar, the first female vice president of Iran, who has called on the Iranian and Turkish governments to work together against corruption.