TEHRAN, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Minister of Health and Medical Education Saeed Namaki on Tuesday touted that the spread of COVID-19 is under control in most parts of the country, though the rise in new infections continued.

Through the collaboration of officials and people, "we have achieved this success" in controlling the novel coronavirus in most parts of the country, Namaki said at a press conference.

"We have reached a better situation in the whole country. On the earlier days (of the virus outbreak in the country), I said that we have three phases to respond to the novel coronavirus: the disease management phase, the control phase, and then the containment phase," Namaki said.

Even in some regions, the COVID-19 has been contained, he noted.

However, in a few provinces the situation remain worrisome, the Iranian minister acknowledged, referring to the reports about a sharp rise in the coronavirus infections in the southwestern Khuzestan province over the past week.

The biggest strategic mistake is to think that the disease is over, he said, warning that the return of outbreak is likely at any moment if the social distancing plan is not respected.

"I request people to further observe the health protocols," he said.

On the same day, Iranian Ministry of Education announced that all the country's schools will reopen as of May 16, after almost three months of closure in the wake of novel coronavirus outbreak.

Iranian Education Minister Mohsen Haji Mirzaee said that the teachers and school staff will be available at schools in the working hours.

It is not obligatory for the students to attend the schools, but they can partake in classes to ask their questions and get prepared for the exams, Haji Mirzaee said.

The schools can also run the final exams as of next week as soon as the students' problems with the lessons are addressed, the minister noted.

All schools across the country have received the health protocols and instructions from the health ministry and will be obligated to observe the health rules when the students return to classes, he said.

The educational centers in Iran have been closed since late February following the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country.

The health authorities have also agreed to partially reopen the mosques during the remaining days of the holy month of Ramadan, which began on April 25.

This came despite that the rise in COVID-19 infections continued in Iran. On Tuesday, Iran announced 1,481 new infections, raising the tally of confirmed cases to 110,767, of whom 6,733 have died.

Iran's number of recovered patients rose to 88,357, while 2,713 people were still in critical condition at hospitals as of Tuesday.