IRNA � The caretaker of Iran�s Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade said on Thursday that the country has now become an exporter of facial mask-producing machinery whereas it was an importer during the first days of the coronavirus outbreak.

Hossein Modarres-Khiabani told IRNA that the priority of his Ministry for �Surge in Production� is to use the empty capacities.

Iran continues boosting production as Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has underlined the importance of the issue after naming the new Iranian calendar year (1399) as "Surge in Production."

Modarres-Khiabani said using the same method, Iran reached from the production capacity of 190,000 masks to 11 million per day.

He added some clothing factories changed their products and started to produce masks in three shifts to help the country.