After a wedding party in the southwestern Iranian town of Ardal, 32 of the guests were infected with the coronavirus, a local health official announced on Wednesday.

In this region, 90% of infections have been caused by people meeting up with their families or attending wedding parties or funerals and failing to follow health recommendations and maintain social distancing, the official said, according to IRNA news agency.

Iran has so far registered a death toll of 8,500 due to the virus and 180,000 had tested positive for the virus by Monday, according to the latest figures provided by the Health Ministry on Wednesday.

Some 70% of the country's economy was brought to a standstill by the virus.

There has been an increase in the number of infections and deaths in recent days that experts attribute to the easing of lockdown measures.

However, President Hassan Rouhani is keen to consider easing the measures, fearing otherwise a further deterioration in the economic situation.