(CNN) An adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has died after contracting the novel coronavirus, state radio said on Monday.

Mohammad Mirmohammadi, 71, was a member of the Expediency Council that advises Khamenei. He is the latest Iranian official to contract the virus.

One of the country's top clerics, Hadi Khosroshahi , died last Thursday after he contracted the sickness.

Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar and Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi , who was heading the government's task force on coronavirus, have also fallen ill, according to state media.

The virus started spreading through Iran last week, and by Monday at least 66 people were dead and 1,501 cases were confirmed, deputy health minister Alireza Raisi said on state TV. Raisi added that 291 people had recovered.

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