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Iran was one of the countries in the world where the covid-19 pandemic took hold for the first time. Already on February 19, the first deaths were recorded in Iran, in the pilgrim city of Qom. In the weeks that followed, the infection spread very rapidly in Iranian society and neighboring countries closed their borders with Iran.
However, at the end of April the infection curve steeply rising to flatten. At that time, the Iranian authorities began to relax several of the strict restrictions that were introduced, including a travel ban between major cities and the closure of shopping centers.
But it took just under two months before the death toll and infection rose again. At the same time, the Iranian Ministry of Health was accused of trying to hide the true extent of the virus. In early August, the British BBC quoted a ministry source as saying that the death toll from COVID-19 was up to three times higher than the official Iranian figure.
Authorities are now reporting disappointing new statistics. Last week, there were 272 deaths from covid-19 in a single day, the highest number recorded in Iran since the start of the pandemic.
In addition, Iran’s Deputy Health Minister Iraj Haririchi admits that the actual death toll could be significantly higher than what was officially reported, reports the AP news agency, citing national media in Iran. According to official statistics, more than 530,000 people have contracted COVID-19 so far in Iran. More than 30,000 of them have died.
The steeply rising infection curve has forced the authorities to take drastic new measures. The capital Tehran, which has as many inhabitants as all of Sweden, just over ten million, has expanded the ban on crowds and introduced fines for those who do not follow the order to wear mouth guards outdoors.
Still, even stricter measures are required. Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani, president of the Tehran city council, demanded the other day that the province of Tehran, the most populous in Iran, be completely isolated from the rest of the country for at least two weeks.
The closing of the company worsens the already acute economic crisis in Iran. The country is deeply affected by the sanctions imposed by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, and which are aimed at an economic collapse in Iran.
Back in March, Iran requested an emergency loan of five billion dollars (almost 45 billion crowns) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington to free up money to fight the corona infection.
But the IMF board has not yet decided whether to grant the loan. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani accuses the United States of blocking the fund’s decision.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo argues that the economic measures, which punish banks and financial institutions that mediate payments to Iran, only affect “the Iranian regime and its corrupt officials.”
But in Iran, there are numerous testimonies of how growing economic pressure has affected ordinary people. One event that has had a major impact on the Iranian media in recent days is the suicide of eleven-year-old Mohammed Mousavizadeh.
The 11-year-old boy, who lived in Dayyer, southern Iran, was unable to pursue distance learning from school because his family could not afford an internet connection or a mobile phone, something that must have brought the boy from eleven years to the desperate act.
