Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that 25 million Iranians had been infected with the coronavirus and that an additional 35 million people were at risk of catching the disease.

“Our estimate is that as of now 25 million Iranians have been infected with this virus and about 14,000 have lost their dear lives,” Rouhani was quoted by Reuters as saying in a speech.

“There is the possibility that between 30 and 35 million other people will be at risk,” he continued, adding “In total, more than 200,000 people have been hospitalized.”

Meanwhile, Iran’s Health Ministry said on Friday 13,791 people had died from COVID-19.

But the Iranian opposition in exile, supported by American and European political figures, reported “at least 72,000 dead” and accused the authorities of “calamitous” management of the situation.

The comments were made during a virtual gathering of the National Council of Iranian Resistance (NCRI) by Maryam Rajavi, president of the organization.

“We, the Iranian people and the Iranian Resistance, we are going to overthrow this regime and take back Iran (…) we will build a free Iran (…) and establish a democratic, secular and non-nuclear Republic,”  Rajavi said.

(i24 News)