Tasnim � Iran�s minister of health praised the Basij forces for their outstanding contributions to the national mobilization plan for the fight against coronavirus, saying the second phase of the scheme is also going to rely on the capabilities of Basij.

Saeed Namaki on Friday sent a letter to Basij (mobilization) Force Commander Brigadier General Gholam Reza Soleimani, commending the paramilitary forces for their active participation in the first stage of the national scheme in which more than 70 million Iranians were screened for coronavirus infection.

The minister noted that the Basij forces� dedication to the countrywide scheme to defeat COVID-19 will go down in history, saying the Health Ministry and Basij will be working together in the second stage of the coronavirus battle national mobilization plan.

During the second stage, Namaki said, the cases detected in the previous phase will be monitored, the people who were in contact with the infected cases but have no symptoms will be tested, and the smart social distancing program will be supervised.

Last week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani unveiled a plan for smart social distancing across the country as a new phase of measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

In Iran, nearly 35,500 coronavirus patients have recovered from the disease so far.