Iran has recorded 12,180 Covid infections over the past 24 hours, the health ministry said, the highest number detected in a single day so far in the pandemic.

More than 1.5 million people have now tested positive and 18,347 have officially died of Covid-19 in Iraq, where the health infrastructure is dilapidated.

Much of the 40-million-strong population remains sceptical of vaccines, with only 1.3 million having been inoculated, AFP reported the health ministry as saying.