New infections from the coronavirus have surged in Iran two weeks after it began easing restrictions on its population and a day before some mosques are set to reopen for Friday prayers, highlighting the risks of lifting curbs to contain the pandemic. Iran closed off religious sites and locked down parts of its economy in March after emerging as the biggest hot spot in the Middle East for Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Religious congregations became early spreaders of the disease, as officials struggled…