Iranian Vice President for Women and Family Affairs and spokeswoman for the 1979 hostage-takers Masoumeh Ebtekar has contracted the Coronavirus, Iranian media reported Thursday.

Ebtekar was seen sitting next to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during a meeting of Iranian cabinet members yesterday.

She was known as ‘Mary’ and also ‘Screaming Mary’ during the 1979 crisis when Iranian revolutionaries seized the US embassy in Tehran and held American diplomats hostage. Throughout the 444-day crisis Ebtekar would go on television to scream and rant against US imperialism.

Ebtekar is not the first Iranian government official to contract the Coronavirus. Earlier this week, Iranian Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi and Iranian MP Mahmud Sadagi announced that they had contracted the disease.

Dozens of people have reportedly died from the Coronavirus in Iran, the largest number of fatalities outside of China where the virus originated.

Source » israelnationalnews