The number of influenza A/H1N1 patients in Iran has risen to 16 cases, a Health Ministry official announced on Tuesday.

Mahmoud Soroush, manager of Flu Program and Border Health Care of the Health Ministry, said that seven new cases brought the total number of A/H1N1 patients in the Islamic republic to 16, out of which 12 had been to Saudi Arabia for Hajj pilgrimage, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Earlier on Tuesday, IRNA quoted Iran's Minister of Health Kamran Bagheri Lankarani as saying that Iran has detected nine cases of influenza A/H1N1 in the country.

"All the infected patients feel well and we do not have any patients in bad condition," Lankarani said, adding that "through the coordination with the Hajj Pilgrimage Organization, some age restrictions have been put on the pilgrims' visit (to Saudi Arabia) for the time being."

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

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

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," health official Mohammad-Mehdi Gouya was quoted by Press TV as saying.

The health ministry has advised Iranians to avoid unnecessary trips to countries such as Mexico, Canada, Thailand, Britain and Germany that witness a higher rate of the novel flu.

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

(Xinhua News Agency July 22, 2009)