Iran’s former ambassador to the Vatican and prominent cleric Hadi Khosrowshahi died of coronavirus, local media reported on Thursday, Anadolu Agency reports.

According to the semiofficial Tasnim News Agency, the 81-year-old cleric died at a hospital in Iran.

Earlier in the day, Iran put the death toll in the country from the coronavirus to 26, with 245 confirmed cases.

The global death toll is nearly 2,800, and China, where the outbreak originated, is the worst hit, with more than 78,000 cases and over 2,700 fatalities.

READ: Global outbreak of the coronavirus