A two-week partial lockdown in the capital of Tehran and other major cities helped slow, but not stop the rising wave of deaths from the coronavirus over the past few weeks.

Iran's clerical and military rulers have threatened revenge for Friday's killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, which could further increase tensions in the Middle East region and beyond.

Iran's death toll from the global pandemic topped 32,000 this week.

Tensions between Washington and Tehran have soared since U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018 from the Iran nuclear deal struck by his predecessor and began reimposing sanctions that had been eased under the accord.

Kept apart by a devastating pandemic and dispersed across the globe, world leaders convened electronically Tuesday for an unprecedented high-level meeting.

The new sanctions fit into U.S. President Donald Trump's effort to limit Iran's regional influence and come a week after U.S.-brokered deals for the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to normalize ties with Israel.

The United States faces defeat in its move to reimpose U.N. sanctions on Tehran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech on Sunday, as Washington declared all U.N. sanctions on Iran had been restored.

Most Iranians are Shi’ite Muslims, who also mark their most significant mourning ceremonies of Ashura in September.

Rouhani also said about 30 to 35 million will be infected to the virus in the coming months.

Many experts blame an increase in virus-related deaths over the past week on wedding and funeral ceremonies with large crowds.