All mosques in Iran will reopen temporarily today, a further step in the government’s plans to ease restrictions that aimed to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, the official IRIB news agency reported.

The decision to reopen the mosques was made in consultation with the ministry of health, IRIB quoted Mohammad Qomi, the director of the Islamic Development Organisation, as saying.

Qomi said later that mosques would only be open for three days commemorating specific nights for Ramazan and it was unclear whether they would stay open, according to the Fars news agency.

The move comes even though some parts of the country have seen a rise in infections.

Read the full Reuters story here.