A senior advisor to the Iranian foreign minister has died from the novel coronavirus, the official IRNA news agency has reported.

The news was followed by official confirmation that the number of cases had soared by over a thousand on Friday. 17 more people had died.

"We have confirmed 1,234 new cases, which is a record in the past few days," health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told a news conference, raising the total number of infections to 4,747.

The new cases "are probably those who had been infected with the virus two weeks ago and have just came to us with symptoms," he added.

Among those killed by the illness on Thursday was Hossein Sheikholeslam, a 68-year old former diplomat, IRNA reported, hailing him as "a veteran and revolutionary."

Seven of those who died from coronavirus are politicians or government officials.

Before his death Sheikholeslam served as an adviser to Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

A former ambassador to Syria, he also served as deputy foreign minister from 1981 to 1997.