"Two people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Qom and one person in Arak, bringing the total of confirmed cases to five in Iran," Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said in a tweet.

The new cases come a day after the health ministry announced two people had died from the COVID-19 virus in the city of Qom, just hours after their cases were publicly confirmed. The pair were reportedly elderly and had pre-existing immunity problems.

The deaths marked the first coronavirus fatalities in the Middle East and only the seventh and eighth outside China where the outbreak has killed more than 2,000 people.

"Following the recent cases of chronic respiratory diseases in Qom, two of the patients tested positive in preliminary tests," Jahanpur said on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately both passed away in the intensive care unit due to old age and issues with their immune system."