DUBAI — An Iranian airline pilot has died from coronavirus, Al Arabiya English said quoting reports in the state media on Wednesday. Asghar Loran, who flew Mahan Air, a Tehran-based airline believed to operate under the direct control of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Mahan Air has been accused of smuggling weapons to Iran’s proxies in the region on behalf of the Quds Force, the overseas arm of the IRGC. Mahan Air has also been accused of being behind the coronavirus crisis in Iran, as it continued its flights to several Chinese cities throughout February despite an official ban on flights to China on January 31. The new coronavirus kills one person every 10 minutes in Iran, the health ministry spokesman tweeted on Thursday, as the death toll in the Middle East worst-affected country climbed to 1,284. “Based on our information, every 10 minutes one person dies from the coronavirus and some 50 people become infected with the virus every hour in Iran," Kianush Jahanpur tweeted. A total of 18,407 people have been infected with the virus as of Thursday, according to figures provided by the Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raisi. — Agencies