Iran’s health ministry has confirmed the first case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in the country.
A ministry official says that the highly contagious variant was detected in a middle-aged Iranian man who had recently travelled back from neighbouring UAE.
The news comes as Iran has, for weeks, experienced relative calm with low infection, hospitalisations and death figures amid a widespread vaccination campaign.
More than 60 per cent of the eligible population has received two doses of a vaccine, and most people can now receive a booster shot.