By Yaghoub Fazeli

DUBAI -- Former Iranian deputy speaker of parliament Mohammad Reza Khatami has been infected with coronavirus, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday.

Khatami has been hospitalized after contracting the virus, Tasnim reported.

A prominent figure in the reformist faction in Iran, Khatami was among supporters of the revolution who occupied the US embassy in Tehran and took 52 US diplomats hostage in 1979.

Khatami was the deputy speaker of parliament from 2000 to 2004.

He is the younger brother of former president Mohammad Khatami.

At least 17 Iranian regime figures have died from coronavirus and 12 others have been infected since the beginning of the outbreak in the republic, according to reports by state media outlets.

As of Saturday, 2,517 in Iran have died from the virus, and there are 35,408 confirmed cases. -- Al Arabiya English