Iran has detected three cases of influenza A/H1N1, bringing the total number of the flu cases to four in the Islamic republic, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Wednesday.

Iran's Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday that they have diagnosed three patients with influenza A/H1N1 out of which two had visited Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrimage, Fars said.

"One of them (the three patients) is a 57-year-old woman who has been hospitalized due to respiratory infection and the other is a 24-year-old man who was treated as an outpatient," Mohammad Mehdi Gouya, an official from the ministry, told Fars.

In June, Iran's Ministry of Health announced the first case of influenza A/H1N1 in the country when a 16-year-old teenager returning from the United States was tested positive.

Iranian health officials said on Tuesday that 200 Iranians are suspected of having been infected with the influenza A/H1N1 virus, local satellite Press TV reported.

Gouya advised pregnant women, the young and the old to avoid traveling to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrimage, Fars said.

Iranian "health authorities have decided to enforce restrictions on Hajj pilgrimage as the latest figures showed 150 individuals have tested positive for A/H1N1 flu in Saudi Arabia," Gouya was quoted as saying.

Earlier, the ministry advised Iranians to avoid unnecessary trips to countries such as Mexico, Canada, Thailand, Britain and Germany which witness a high rate of the novel flu.

As a means to confront the flu epidemic disease in the country, Iran has established a committee which includes four ministers and two vice presidents.

(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2009)