Tehran:Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Hashem Bathaie Golpayegani Iran’s top cleric and member of Assembly of Experts, part of Iran's Supreme leader advisory, died of COVID-19, yesterday.
Golpaygani was admitted to Qom's Shahid Beheshti hospital and was under treatment from Saturday. He is the latest top regime figure to die in Iran, the third-most affected country after China and Italy.
Rouhani mourned the death, saying it had "caused great grief and sorrow".
"I hereby express my condolences to the Assembly of Experts, his followers and his respectful family and ask the Almighty highest levels and rewards for him, being accompanied by his great progenitor, and patience and health for his family," said a message on the Iranian President's official web page.
Golpaygani served as the representative of the people of Tehran to the Assembly of Experts and other political and cultural fields, leaving valuable services behind.
