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CAIRO, March 23-- Iran's death toll from COVID-19 climbed to 1,812 on Monday, after 127 new deaths were reported. Meanwhile, more countries in the Middle East decided to impose curfew to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The total number of COVID-19 infections in Iran, the worst-hit country in the region, climbed to 23,049, up by 1,411 from a day ago. A total of 8,376 of the infected have recovered. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif blasted the U.S. for obstructing the fight against novel coronavirus outbreak by maintaining anti-Iran sanctions, while urging countries across the world to defy the U.S. sanctions. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed the U.S. offer for help to Iran to fight the coronavirus outbreak as "one of the biggest lies in history." Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted late Monday that the death toll from COVID-19 in Turkey rose to 37, after seven new deaths were added. A total of 293 new cases were reported, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,529, making Turkey the second hardest-hit country in the Middle East, after Iran. In Israel, 371 people were tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Monday, in the biggest single-day rise. It brought the total number of confirmed cases in Israel to 1,442. In Riyadh, Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ordered the Interior Ministry to impose a curfew (from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.) for 21 days in order to stem the COVID-19 spread. | 
