Iranian foreign minister tests positive for COVID-19

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian tested positive for the coronavirus and is in quarantine, a ministry spokesperson announced on Monday.

“His general condition is good and he continues working from quarantine,” Saeed Khatibzadeh told state media, according to Reuters. 

It is unclear if the foreign minister was vaccinated against COVID-19.

The foreign ministry said Monday that Amirabdollahian would be going to India at the end of November for the Indo-Iranian Joint Economic Commission.

Reuters noted that Amirabdollahian’s positive test should not affect Iran’s ability to restart nuclear negotiations, since the foreign minister is not directly involved in the talks. 

Iran announced last week it would restart talks to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action toward the end of November. 

The nation’s deputy foreign minister, Ali Bagheri, made the announcement to restart talks after speaking with Enrique Mora, the European Union official in charge of coordinating the negotiations. 

The deputy foreign minister said on Twitter he “had a very serious & constructive dialogue with @enriquemora_ on the essential elements for successful negotiations. We agree to start negotiations before the end of November. Exact date would be announced in the course of the next week.”