Mask wearing has become mandatory in public in the Iranian capital and violators will be fined, President Hassan Rouhani has announced as the country battles a third wave of coronavirus infections.

The daily death toll from Covid-19 reached a record of 239 this week in Iran, the worst-hit country in the Middle East. The Health Ministry has reported 195 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the total toll to 28,293. There were 3,875 new cases, ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari told state TV.

Rouhani said in televised remarks that anyone caught without a mask would be fined 500,000 rials and those infected with the coronavirus who do not self-quarantine or inform friends and colleagues of their illness would be fined two million rials.