File Photo: A man walks between beds at a shopping mall, one of Iran's largest, which has been turned into a centre to receive patients suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Tehran, Iran, April 4, 2020. WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Ali Khara via REUTERS

(Reuters) - Iran’s death toll from COVID-19 has risen by 117 in the past day to 4,474, health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said on Sunday.

The Islamic Republic has recorded 71,686 cases of the new coronavirus which causes the disease, Jahanpur said.

Iran has been the country hardest hit by the pandemic in the Middle East.

Ten thousand graves have been dug in a new section of the sprawling Behesht-e Zahra cemetery south of Tehran to deal with coronavirus deaths, the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.

Separately, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced that restrictions on travel between cities within each province in Iran have been lifted, according to the official presidency website.

Restrictions on travel between provinces will be lifted on April 20, he said.