Iran announced that it arrested at least 320 people for allegedly spreading "false and provocative" information on the novel coronavirus pandemic via social media, according to local reports on Sunday.

Axar.az informs citing Iranian media.

"320 people who were sharing false and provocative posts about the COVID-19 pandemic on social media were arrested," said police chief Hossein Ashtari, the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported.

Iran, one of the Middle Eastern countries hardest hit by the outbreak, COVID-19 was first detected in the city of Qom on Feb. 19, then spreading throughout the country.

The coronavirus death toll in Iran rose to 6,589 after 48 more fatalities were confirmed on Saturday, according to state media.