Iran virus death toll surges past 6,000

Iran's health ministry said on Thursday that 71 new deaths from the novel coronavirus took the country's overall toll past the 6,000 mark.

"The number of deaths from this disease effectively crossed 6,000 today," ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in televised remarks.

"Considering that we lost 71 of our countrymen in the past 24 hours, a total of 6,028 of those infected with COVID-19 have passed away to date," he added.

He added that another 983 people tested positive for the virus during the same period, bringing the total to 94,640.

More than 75,100 of those infected had already been released from hospital after recovering.

Of those still being treated for the disease, 2,976 were in critical condition.

Doubts have been cast over Iran's coronavirus casualty figures by experts and officials both at home and abroad.

Health Minister Saeed Namaki criticised some Iranians for not taking the outbreak seriously.

"I have a complaint about some citizens; you are considering the situation to be too normal," Namaki said in televised remarks.

"It is true that we had very good results at the height of economic distress, that deaths dropped to double digits and hospitalisations reached minimum, but this does not mean the coronavirus is done with."

Namaki also warned that Iran must prepare itself for a "simultaneous heavy wave of COVID-19 and the flu" in the coming autumn and winter.

Iran has shut schools, universities, cinemas and stadiums among other public spaces since March to contain the spread of the virus.

But since April 11, it has allowed a phased reopening of its economy and lifted restrictions on intercity travel.

Mosques remain closed even as Muslims observe the fasting month of Ramadan.

According to Namaki, his ministry is devising health protocols to allow Friday and group prayers to recommence in cities that have been given the all clear.

Group prayers have been banned in the country as a high-risk activity since mid-March.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Says Reopened for Business as No End in Sight to Virus Crisis

Iran reopened for business despite its persistent coronavirus outbreak as there was no end in sight to the crisis, its president said Wednesday, as 80 new deaths were announced.

 "Due to uncertainty about when this virus will end, we are preparing for work, activity and science," said President Hassan Rouhani.

"We have to follow all the medical instructions, but work and production are as essential as these precautions," he told a televised cabinet meeting.

His remarks came as the health ministry announced that 80 new deaths from the novel coronavirus had taken the country's overall toll to 5,957.

Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said another 1,073 people tested positive for the virus in the past 24 hours. 

All but 20,000 of the 93,657 people who contracted the illness since mid-February have been discharged from hospital, he told a televised news conference.

Iran has struggled to contain the coronavirus outbreak since reporting its first cases—two deaths in the Shiite holy city of Qom—on February 19.

Despite still battling the virus, the government has allowed many businesses to reopen since April 11 after shutting most down in mid-March to stem the spread of the disease.

Photo: IRNA

Pompeo Says US to Seek All Ways to Extend Iran Arms Embargo

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed Wednesday to use all means available to extend a UN arms embargo on Iran, including working through a nuclear accord that President Donald Trump has trashed.

A ban on selling conventional weapons to Iran ends in October under a 2015 Security Council resolution that blessed the denuclearization accord negotiated by former president Barack Obama.

"We're not going to let that happen," Pompeo told a news conference.

"In the event we can't get anyone else to act, the United States is evaluating every possibility about how we might do that."

Pompeo said he would ask the UN Security Council to prolong the ban.

But China and particularly Russia, which stand to win major new arms contracts with Iran, are certain to oppose an extension. They only agreed to the five-year ban in 2015 as a compromise reached with the Obama administration.

There is one way to avoid a veto by China or Russia -- a participant in the nuclear deal can trigger a return of sanctions by declaring Iran to be in violation.

Pompeo said that the United States will seek action from Britain, France and Germany—which remain part of the nuclear accord.

But the US allies are critical of the US approach, saying that Europe still has a ban on arms exports to Iran and that the nuclear issue is more important.

Pompeo confirmed that the United States was ready to argue that it is itself a participant because it is listed as one in the resolution from 2015, even though Trump has repeatedly said that Washington has bolted the "worst deal ever" after he took over.

"There's nothing magic about this," Pompeo said.

"It's unambiguous, and the rights that accrue to participants of the UN Security Council resolution are fully available to all those participants," he said.

"We're going to make sure that come October of this year, the Iranians aren't able to buy conventional weapons that they would be, given what president Obama and vice president Biden have delivered to the world in that terrible deal."

Joe Biden is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee expected to face Trump in November elections, days after the scheduled expiration of the arms embargo.

UN inspectors said Iran complied with the nuclear deal and drastically reduced its program as it sought promised sanctions relief.

But Trump, who is close to Iran's rivals Saudi Arabia and Israel, said the goal should be to reduce the clerical regime's regional activities and slapped sweeping sanctions.

Photo: GPA

Iran Counts 71 Virus Deaths as New Cases Top 1,000

Iran on Tuesday announced 71 deaths from the novel coronavirus, and said there were also more than 1,000 new cases of infection in the country.

The fatalities recorded in the past 24 hours brought to 5,877 the overall death toll from the illness in the Middle East's hardest-hit country.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 1,112 people tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19.

That took to 92,584 the total number of infections recorded in Iran since it announced its first cases in mid-February.

Iran says 72,439 of those admitted to hospital with the virus have recovered and been discharged.

Its latest figures came a day after the ministry announced its daily infection count had fallen to 991—below 1,000 for the first time since March 10.

Doubts have been cast over Iran's coronavirus casualty figures by experts and officials both at home and abroad.

State television on Tuesday aired footage from Tehran grocery stores where posters urged customers to observe social distancing rules.

"The majority do not respect these instructions," a salesman told the channel.

A bus driver complained about passengers who were failing to abide by government guidelines.

"People always pay in cash," he said, expressing concern over a method of payment discouraged by the authorities as it increases the risk of the virus spreading.

Iran's government ordered the closure of schools, universities, cinemas and stadiums among other public spaces in March in order to halt the spread of the virus.

But it has allowed a phased reopening of shops and has lifted restrictions on movement within the country since April 11.

Mosques remain closed even as the Islamic republic observes the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The Iranian authorities have warned of the possibility of a "second wave" in the country's coronavirus outbreak.

Photo: IRNA

In Twist to Press Arms Ban, US Asserts Role in Iran Deal

By Shaun Tandon and Philippe Rater

President Donald Trump's administration has persistently trashed a nuclear deal with Iran. But as it seeks to extend an arms embargo, it is making the case that it still has a seat at the table.

The push has drawn skepticism from Western allies and has led critics to question if the ultimate aim is to kill the deal entirely, potentially in the final stretch of Trump's re-election campaign.

"You cannot cherry-pick a resolution saying you implement only parts of it but you won't do it for the rest," a Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called on United Nations members to renew the ban on all conventional arms exports to Iran which is due to expire in October.

He renewed his push last week after Iran said it had launched a military satellite into orbit for the first time -- proving, according to Pompeo, that the clerical regime had been deceitful in saying its space program was for peaceful purposes.

The launch should lead more countries to "understand what President Trump has understood since he first came into office, that the Iran deal was a crazy, bad deal," Pompeo told the Christian Broadcasting Network.

The arms embargo was part of a 2015 UN Security Council Resolution—whose primary purpose was to bless the deal, negotiated by former president Barack Obama, under which Iran drastically scaled back its nuclear program.

Former secretary of state John Kerry has said the five-year embargo was a compromise with Russia and China, which opposed any limits.

Wielding veto power, Russia and China are virtually certain to oppose a new embargo, with Moscow potentially in line for billions of dollars in arms contracts.

But there is one way to skirt a veto—if a party to the deal asserts that Iran is in significant violation of it, which would trigger a return of international sanctions.

A US official and several diplomats said that the Trump administration is pushing forward with the stance, disputed by some, that the United States is able to declare Iran in violation.

In a legal opinion issued last year to please hawkish Republicans, the State Department argued that the United States could do so as it was listed a "participant state" in the 2015 resolution.

'Abject Failure'

The United States, of course, has shattered its own promises under the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which was meant to offer economic relief to Iran and is still backed by European powers.

Trump, who is close to Iran's regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Israel, has imposed sweeping unilateral sanctions that include trying to block all of Iran's oil exports as he seeks to reduce Tehran's regional activities.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, responding on Twitter to a New York Times article on the strategy, said that Pompeo had hoped in exiting the deal to "bring Iran to its knees."

"Given that policy's abject failure, he now wants to be JCPOA participant. Stop dreaming: Iranian Nation always decides its destiny," Zarif wrote.

Even most US supporters of Obama's nuclear deal back the arms embargo, with a bipartisan resolution before the Senate seeking its extension.

But some believe Pompeo's motives, or at least the effects, would be broader if he tries to act from within the JCPOA.

"If Pompeo goes through with this plan, snapping back sanctions on Iran collapses the JCPOA," said Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association, a research group in Washington.

Even more significant, the move could lead Iran to make good on threats to exit the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, she said.

"This is just another step that would undermine US credibility, make future negotiations with Iran more difficult and increase the risk of a nuclear crisis in the region," she said, adding that there were other avenues to address arms exports.

Iran has already stepped back compliance to protest US sanctions as well as a January drone strike that killed powerful general Qasem Soleimani.

A death-knell to the deal would leave a vacuum to reshape Iran policy either as Trump starts a second term or Joe Biden, who strongly backed the accord, enters the White House.

Photo: Wikicommons

Iran Tells US to 'Stop Dreaming' of Extended Arms Embargo

Tehran on Monday told Washington to "stop dreaming" after it was reported that the US plans to prevent the expiry of an international embargo on arms sales to Iran.

The New York Times reported that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "is preparing a legal argument that the United States remains a participant in the Iran nuclear deal that President (Donald) Trump has renounced".

The move was "part of an intricate strategy to pressure the United Nations Security Council to extend an arms embargo on Tehran or see far more stringent sanctions reimposed" on the Islamic Republic, it added.

Decades-old tensions between Tehran and Washington escalated in 2018 when Trump unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal—the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA—and reimposed sanctions as part of a campaign of "maximum pressure.”

Iran's top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif responded on Twitter to Pompeo's reported plan to extend the arms embargo.

Zarif wrote on Monday that two years ago Pompeo and "his boss declared 'CEASING US participation' in JCPOA, dreaming that their 'max pressure' would bring Iran to its knees.

"Given that policy's abject failure, he now wants to be JCPOA participant," Zarif said.

“Stop dreaming: Iranian Nation always decides its destiny," the foreign minister added.

The JCPOA was agreed in 2015 between Iran and six world powers—Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.

It gave the Islamic republic relief from international sanctions in return for limits on its nuclear program.

In response to the US pullout, Iran has gradually rolled back its commitments to the JCPOA, which it says is in accordance with the agreement.

Washington, which accuses Tehran of violating the agreement, wants to prevent the lifting of an arms embargo that is due to expire in October under UN Security Council Resolution 2231—the same 2015 resolution that formalized the JCPOA.

The New York Times said the US was planning to achieve its goal through a new resolution that would bar countries from exporting arms to Iran.

But it added that in order to force the issue Pompeo had approved a plan under which the US would claim it legally remains a "participant state" in the nuclear accord.

Iran, for its part, accuses the United States of violating Resolution 2231 by withdrawing from the nuclear accord.

Photo: IRNA

Virus Drives Tehran Cabbies Around the Bend

By Ahmad Parhizi

Usually Tehran's tens of thousands of taxi drivers have to battle maddening traffic but now the coronavirus is driving them around the bend.

Since it first emerged in Iran in mid-February, the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease has claimed 5,800 lives and infected more than 91,000, according to Iran's government.

It has also put the brakes on most forms of transportation, and taxi services have been among the hardest hit in Tehran, a city of more than eight million people.

"So many taxis, but no passengers," lamented 52-year-old Mohammad, pointing to lines of yellow cabs hoping for a ride at Aryashahr station, a transport hub in west Tehran.

The situation was "catastrophic" for the entire sector, he told AFP.

"How can we pay the rent, the water and electricity bills, or even for the car?" his colleague Homayoun, 60, chipped in.

Mohammad is angry at the government and its insistence on respect for the rules of social distancing, which in his view discourage people from taking any form of public transport.

In Aryashahr, most of the drivers have installed transparent partitions for the passenger compartments of their cars to isolate themselves from customers.

In the hope of winning back clients, they also apply copious amounts of disinfectant on their vehicles.

One Last Spray

A driver named Rouhollah was lucky enough to get three customers, and with one last spray of disinfectant on his cab's door handles he was good to go.

No less than 80,000 taxi drivers are authorised to work in Tehran, according to Alireza Qanadan, head of licensing for the municipality.

Those suffering the most from the outbreak were the roughly 2,000 cabbies attached to the capital's two airports and bus terminals providing long-distance connections to other provinces, he said.

"Their revenues have fallen by almost 90 percent" due to the coronavirus, Qanadan told AFP.

In a bid to combat the spread of the virus, the authorities banned inter-city travel at the end of March.

Since April 20, Iranians have once again been allowed to travel between provinces but this has not brought a return to normal for taxi services.

On average, the daily earnings of all drivers in the capital are 64 percent lower than they were before the health crisis, Qanadan said.

Taxis operating in Tehran were suffering from the fact that now "many people use their own cars to get to work for fear of illness", he added.

One commuter summed it up on Twitter. "I always used to take a taxi to work but now, with the coronavirus, I have to take my car and leave home an hour early to find a place to park," Hamid wrote.

The municipality is also encouraging the use of private cars.

In response to the coronavirus, it has lifted restrictions on traffic that had been imposed on central Tehran to combat the city's often heavy air pollution.

Ride-Hailing Hit Too

For the drivers of taxis and ride-hailing services alike, the phased resumption of economic activity allowed in Tehran since April 18 has so far hardly improved their lot.

"Before the coronavirus, I used to wait a maximum of 10 minutes to get a passenger, but these days I sometimes have to stand on a street corner for two hours," said Bahram, a driver for Tapsi, an Iranian version of Uber.

Since the Persian New Year holidays more than five weeks ago, the 37-year-old said he had only earned about 12 million rials ($76, 70 euros), less than a third of his usual takings.

Another Tapsi-affiliated driver, Alireza, 49, spoke of a similar drop in income. He said he was getting by for the time being thanks to a loan from the company.

In order to help drivers—13 of whom have died from COVID-19, according to official figures—the municipality had extended their work permits free of charge, Qanadan said.

For the most vulnerable of them, he added, city hall has also distributed sanitary articles and even food.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Says Virus Cases Pass 90,000

The number of novel coronavirus cases in Iran has passed 90,000, according to official figures released Sunday, as Tehran announced its lowest number of new deaths in weeks.

Health authorities have registered 1,153 new cases of the COVID-19 illness since midday Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 90,481, health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told a daily news briefing.

Sixty additional fatalities were recorded, with the overall death toll reaching 5,710, he added.

It is the country's lowest number of officially declared deaths since March 10.

Iran announced its first novel coronavirus cases in February, and is the worst-hit country in the Middle East.

Jahanpour said Iranians needed to continue to respect health and social distancing measures, despite the decreasing death toll.

There has been speculation abroad that the real number of coronavirus deaths and infections in Iran could be higher, and even some local officials have questioned the declared figures.

Since April 11, authorities have allowed the phased reopening of some businesses and have relaxed some domestic travel restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the virus.

Schools, universities, mosques, Shiite shrines, cinemas and sports stadiums, however, remain closed.

Meanwhile, some health officials in the Islamic republic have warned of the risk of a fresh outbreak.

Alireza Zali, the anti-coronavirus coordinator for the capital, criticized "hasty reopenings" that could "create new waves of sickness in Tehran and complicate efforts to bring the epidemic under control", in comments quoted Saturday by semi-official news agency ISNA.

Another senior health ministry official has expressed similar fears for other hard-hit provinces.

Iranian authorities no longer provide provincial breakdowns of coronavirus cases and deaths, but Tehran province is considered to be among the worst affected.

Photo: IRNA

US Grants Iraq Brief 30-Day Waiver for Iranian Gas Imports

Washington on Sunday granted Iraq a 30-day extension to a waiver allowing it to import Iranian gas for its dilapidated power grids despite American sanctions, an Iraqi official said. 

The extension comes as Baghdad faces a cocktail of crises, including collapsing oil prices and the novel coronavirus pandemic and political deadlock over government formation.

Iraq relies on gas and electricity imports from its neighbor Tehran to supply about a third of its power grid, crippled by years of conflict and poor maintenance.

The US blacklisted the Iranian energy sector in late 2018 and has granted Baghdad a series of waivers, usually for 45, 90 or 120 days.

Last month, Washington granted Iraq a 30-day extension—its shortest yet—and extended it again on Sunday.

"It is extended for another 30 days. There are no specific conditions," the Iraqi official told AFP. 

Iraqi officials had expected the waiver would be extended long enough to allow new prime minister designate Mustafa Kadhimi to pull together a government. 

The PM-designate is in talks with Iraq's political parties to form his first cabinet, and has until May 9 to submit it to parliament for a vote of confidence. 

Kadhimi had a strong showing of support from across Iraq's political spectrum when he was nominated, but disputes over ministerial positions appear to have worn it down. 

The US has pressured Iraq to use the waivers to become independent from Iranian energy, but progress has been slow.

OPEC's second-biggest producer relies on crude exports to fund more than 90 percent of its state budget, but the crash to prices under $30 per barrel has seriously undermined the government's fiscal position. 

In a further blow, coronavirus has spread across the country, with more than 1,800 confirmed cases and 87 deaths announced by the health ministry. 

Photo: Iraq PM

Virus-Hit Iran Demands US Be Held to Account for 'Cruel' Sanctions

Iran called Thursday for the US to be held accountable for "cruel" sanctions that have hampered its efforts to fight a coronavirus outbreak that it said claimed another 90 lives.

The Islamic republic has been struggling to contain the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease since revealing its first cases more than two months ago.

It accuses its arch enemy the United States of making the crisis worse through sanctions imposed unilaterally since Washington pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.

The latest fatalities given by the health ministry for the past 24 hours took the overall death toll in Iran from the coronavirus to 5,481.

"Today, the coronavirus has spread not only in Iran but in almost all countries, and it requires serious effort and collective action to deal with it," said Iran's deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi.

"In addition to fighting the virus, Iran faces illegal and inhuman American sanctions, doubling the pressure on the Iranian people," he was quoted as saying in a ministry statement.

"It is the right of the Iranian people to have access to their financial resources to fight the disease and to counter its economic consequences," said Araghchi.

"The United States' cruel and unilateral sanctions against Iran constitute a clear violation of Security Council Resolution 2231, and the United States must therefore be held accountable by the international community," he added.

Medicines and medical equipment are technically exempt from the US sanctions but purchases are frequently blocked by the unwillingness of banks to process purchases for fear of incurring heavy US penalties.

Iran's coronavirus outbreak, which first emerged in the Shiite holy city of Qom on February 19, is one of the deadliest in the world.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour announced 1,030 new cases of coronavirus infection on Thursday, taking the country's total to 87,026.

Quoted by state media, he called for caution despite what he described as the "relative stability" and "gradual decline in new cases".

"We certainly need to put personal and public health advice, traffic reduction and the cancellation of any unnecessary travel on the agenda."

Photo: IRNA

Iran Reports 94 Virus Deaths But Says Cases Going Down

Iran announced on Wednesday 94 new deaths from the novel coronavirus but said the cases of people infected in the country was on the way down.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said the fatalities detected in the past 24 hours took Iran's overall death toll to 5,391.

The number of people infected with the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease rose by 1,194, bringing the total to 85,996.

"The gradual downward trend in cases of infections has been maintained," Jahanpour told a televised news conference.

President Hassan Rouhani however called on people to remain vigilant.

"If we arrogantly think that the job is done and we have won, then this would be the biggest problem that could affect us," he said during a weekly meeting of his cabinet.

Iran has struggled to contain the virus outbreak since reporting its first cases on February 19 -- two deaths in the Shiite holy city of Qom.

The number of Iranians killed and sickened by the virus is widely thought to be much higher, however.

Despite that, Iran has allowed many businesses to reopen since April 11 after shutting most down in mid-March to prevent the spread of the disease.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Launches Military Satellite Amid US Tensions

By Ahmad Parhizi

Iran said it put its first military satellite into orbit Wednesday, making it an emerging "world power", as the US issued new threats amid rising naval tensions in the Persian Gulf.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hailed the launch as a milestone despite repeated US allegations that the space programme is a cover to develop ballistic missiles.

"Today, we are looking at the Earth from the sky, and it is the beginning of the formation of a world power," the Guards' commander Hossein Salami said, quoted by Fars news agency.

Tensions between the United States and Iran escalated again last week with Washington accusing its arch-foe of harassing its ships in the Persian Gulf.

US President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday to say he had "instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea".

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo charged that the satellite launch proved US charges that Iran's space programme was for military rather than commercial purposes.

"I think Iran needs to be held accountable for what they've done," Pompeo told reporters in Washington.

Iran maintains it has no intention of acquiring nuclear weapons, and says its aerospace activities are peaceful and comply with a UN Security Council resolution.

Sepahnews, the Revolutionary Guards' website, said the satellite dubbed the Nour—meaning "light" in Persian—had been launched from the Markazi desert, a vast expanse in Iran's central plateau.

The satellite "orbited the Earth at 425 kilometres (264 miles)" above sea level, said Sepahnews.

Iran's regional rival Israel said it "strongly condemns" what it called Iran's "attempt" to launch a military satellite.

It urged more international sanctions for what it called "a facade" for Iran's continued development of advanced missiles, including ones that could deliver a nuclear warhead.

David Norquist, the US deputy defence secretary, said the Iranian launch "went a very long way".

The range "means it has the ability once again to threaten their neighbours, our allies. And we want to make sure they can never threaten the United States," he told reporters.

'Great National Achievement'

Iranian state television aired footage from multiple angles of a rocket blasting off into a mostly clear blue sky.

The rocket bore the name Qassed, meaning "messenger", in what appears to be the first time Iran has used a launcher of this type.

Its fuselage also bore a Koranic inscription that read: "Glory be to God who made this available to us, otherwise we could not have done it."

There was no way to independently verify the details and timing of the reported launch.

Iran's Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi took to Twitter to congratulate the Guards' air force, adding he had visited the launch site three weeks ago.

"They were great," he said, describing the satellite as a "three-stage solid fuel" launcher.

Iran has repeatedly tried and failed to launch satellites in the past.

The most recent attempt was on February 9 when it said it launched but was unable to put into orbit the Zafar, which means "victory" in Persian.

High-Seas Encounter

Iran and the United States have appeared to be on the brink of an all-out confrontation twice in the past year.

Their long-standing acrimony was exacerbated in 2018 when Trump unilaterally withdrew from a multilateral deal that froze Iran's nuclear programme.

Tensions escalated again in January when the US killed Major General Qasem Soleimani, head of the Guards' foreign operations arm, in a drone strike in Iraq.

The Pentagon last week accused Iran of "dangerous and provocative" actions in the Persian Gulf.

It said 11 Guards boats "repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns" of US vessels in international waters.

Iran said the US gave a "Hollywood" account of the encounter and warned that any "miscalculation will receive a decisive response.”

The Islamic republic, battling one of the world's deadliest novel coronavirus outbreaks at the same time as dealing with crippling US sanctions, has accused Washington of "economic terrorism.”

Tehran says the punitive measures have denied it access to medical equipment needed to fight the virus.

Iran has declared that the disease has claimed the lives of nearly 5,400 people and infected almost 86,000 since the outbreak emerged on February 19, but observers believe the numbers to be significantly higher.

Pompeo said the satellite launch showed Iran was disingenuous when it requested a $5 billion emergency loan to battle the virus from the International Monetary Fund, where the United States holds an effective veto.

"I would hope that the Iranian regime will respond to the Iranian people's demands to prioritize resources—resources that the Iranian regime clearly has."

Photo: YJC

Women in Virus-Hit Iran Tech Sector Fight to Keep Hard-Won jobs

By Lucie Peytermann

From the hustle and bustle of a startup, Fereshteh Kasrai now works from home, like many Iranian women fighting to keep hard-won tech jobs as the coronavirus outbreak stirs uncertainty.

Iran says the COVID-19 disease has claimed more than 5,200 lives and infected close to 83,000 over the past two months, in the Middle East's deadliest outbreak.

Kasrai says working remotely from the confines of her home amid the health crisis has had its upsides and downsides.

"Emotionally, it's very bad, but it's more efficient," she says in a teleconference call.

She comes across as tired, contrasting with the energetic tone when AFP met her at her workplace in Tehran a few weeks ago.

"For me, it's a little bit difficult. I miss my colleagues and I miss the days when we interacted," she says.

The 44-year-old is head of human resources at Alibaba, Iran's largest online travel booking service.

She doesn't hide her concerns for the startup whose core business has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

Kasrai and her colleagues had to adapt at short notice to ensure they didn't lose out.

"We are having daily meetings and video calls. It's not the same quality as face-to-face work but it's the best we can do."

'Iran Silicon Valley'

To enter Alibaba's headquarters is to enter another Iran, a short distance from impoverished districts of the capital.

An "Iran Silicon Valley" sign adorns the entrance of the building.

The interior is trendy with giant cushions in rest areas and glass enclosed offices where staff focus their gaze on high-end computers.

Dressed in tight-fitting jeans and scarves that reveal their hair, women work alongside men, an uncommon mix in the Islamic republic.

Of the nearly 700 employees at Alibaba, 42 percent are women. Some have senior roles, a challenge in this patriarchal society.

"I worked with three large companies before Alibaba... and I felt that growing in those places requires a certain condition," Anis Amir Arjmandi, a legal manager, says referring to nepotism.

"The opportunities I'm given here—which is not because of my gender or my position, but the company's way of doing things—enable me to have a degree of freedom," she says.

Her colleague Fatemeh Ashrafi, 38, says there are more opportunities in startups.

"There's more space to express oneself, since the bureaucratic hierarchies are less intrusive," she says.

"We can see our managers whenever we want. We don't need to wait at their doors and ask for time" to meet.

Tech journalist Khosro Kalbasi says women benefit from working in startups as they are more progressive with younger managers.

"Over the years the number of women employed by these companies has grown," he says.

Iran is one of the Middle East's most connected with an internet penetration rate of 87 percent.

Opportunity to Innovate

Azadeh Kian, professor of sociology in Paris and a specialist on Iran, says women account for 70 percent of engineering and science students in the Islamic republic.

"It is a sector where they know they can have more room for improvement and the possibility of innovating," Kian says.

Kasrai says Iranian women are becoming increasingly assertive in the workplace.

"They have no fear to express themselves," she says.

She said she was pleased to see "as many women as we have men" in Alibaba's tech division, breaking the "taboo" that a programmer must be a man.

Startups began emerging in Iran in the 2000s, before really taking off from 2013.

But the country's tech sector was hit hard by the reinstatement of US sanctions in 2018, after the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal.

In an unexpected twist, the sanctions were seized upon by Iranian entrepreneurs as an opportunity to launch even more startups.

With the benefit of being protected from foreign competition, they took inspiration from global giants to create local equivalents.

Among them are Digikala, Iran's answer to US online retailer Amazon, as well as Tap30 and Snapp!, which are similar to US ride-hailing service Uber.

Mona Ahmadi says she has flourished at Tap30, where she manages around 140 call centre workers, 61 of them young women.

"I'm a workaholic," says the 33-year-old, dressed in a denim jacket and leggings.

"I've always wanted to have a good job and social status," she says with a smile.

Forty-five percent of Tap30's staff are women.

"Most of them are less than 30 years old, and they are employed in all sectors -- marketing, technical, HR, call centre," says Negar Arab, who is head of communications.

As well as Arab's own position, the company's finance and legal divisions also have women at the helm, she adds.

But Arab says the coronavirus outbreak has turned her life upside down.

She says it has made her "very busy" between working remotely and taking care of her daughter and her family.

One of the biggest success stories among Iran's startups is Takhfifan, an online retailer founded by Nazanin Daneshvar and her sister.

Established eight years ago, Takhfifan employs 350 people but its offices are now closed and working from home is widespread.

"Everything has come as a bit of a shock," Daneshvar says on the phone, her baby babbling away in the background.

"The (staff) are really doing a good job although it is very difficult and can be exhausting" to work from home and to handle things remotely using apps, she says.

She also laments that there aren't enough "women at the critical and top, top positions in e-commerce".

Family Pressures

Times had already been tough for women long before the coronavirus outbreak.

"In the first couple of years, I used to take my dad along (to meetings) because nobody accepted me as the manager," Daneshvar says.

But even now it is still "two times more difficult" to work as a woman, she says.

"The reality I always fight against is that they judge men based on their potential but judge women on their past performance."

As a result, many end up quitting, says Daneshvar.

"I have had employees who left... as the husband is not happy because they couldn't cook at the right time, or they couldn't deliver what you expect as a traditional woman."

Arjmandi says most top posts are filled by men, leaving women vulnerable.

She says women are more likely to lose jobs amid the health and economic crises, especially in governmental or semi-governmental enterprises.

Photo: HAMAVA

Iran Lets More Businesses Reopen as Virus Toll Rises

Iran on Monday reported 91 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, as the government allowed more economic activity to resume after a gradual reopening in the past 10 days.

After nearly a week of declining fatalities, there has been a slight uptick in the past few days for the Islamic republic, one of the world's hardest hit.

Sanctions-hit Iran had shut down all non-essential economic activity in mid-March, weeks after its coronavirus outbreak first came to light.

But top officials argued the country's battered economy could not remain shuttered, and President Hassan Rouhani has allowed low-risk businesses to reopen since April 11.

Shops in passages and bazaars were the latest businesses permitted to resume trading as part of the reopening.

A clothier at Tehran's Grand Bazaar said his customers would expose themselves to the virus regardless as they had to go out to buy necessities anyway.

"Even if we stay closed, what's the use?" Mahmoud Fakhrzadegan, who has worked at the bazaar for 60 years, told AFP.

For 27-year-old Reza, standing masked in front of his small stall, the reopening was not a "100 percent correct" decision but shopkeepers had to make a living, as "no one else is going to help them".

Another shopkeeper put it in darker terms.

"What should we be afraid of? We were born once, and we're going to die sometime," said Ahmad, 67.

Nearly all retailers were open at north Tehran's Tajrish Bazaar, said an AFP correspondent who visited the sprawling complex on Monday.

Appeal for Vigilance

But health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour appealed for people to remain vigilant as he announced the latest tolls from the deadly virus.

"With some businesses reopening and movement increasing, observing health protocols and social distancing become more and more necessary," he said.

"It does not mean we should be less careful, but the exact opposite," he told a televised news conference.

Iran reported its first coronavirus cases on February 19—two deaths in the Shiite holy city of Qom.

Jahanpour said the latest COVID-19 fatalities brought the country's official number of dead to 5,209.

An additional 1,294 infections took the country's total number of COVID-19 cases to 83,505.

Of those admitted to hospital, 59,273 had recovered and were discharged, while 3,389 remained in critical condition.

There has been scepticism about Iran's declared coronavirus casualty figures from officials and experts both in the country and abroad.

Rouhani's government allowed "low-risk" shops in the capital to reopen on Saturday and other provinces last week.

Businesses such as restaurants, gyms and wedding halls are still closed due to the high risk of spreading the virus.

Iran has been under crippling US sanctions since President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from a landmark nuclear deal and reimposed them in 2018.

With sanctions targeting key oil and banking sectors, Tehran has struggled to keep its economy running while handing out cash to the poor.

"The government must fight the direct and indirect impacts of coronavirus like poverty, unemployment, and recession, with the fight becoming harder and more complicated due to sanctions," government spokesman Ali Rabiei told a news conference on Monday.

Photo: IRNA

Iran-US Tensions Decrease in Iraq, For Now

By Maya Gebeily

It has been weeks since Iran-backed factions in Iraq traded fire with US forces, but experts warn the rivals could be using the time to prepare for an escalation.

After the last Katyusha rockets slammed into American installations in Iraq in March, the United States began planning an unprecedented bombing campaign in Iraq and new Iran-aligned factions threatened to kill Western ambassadors.

"Even if we haven't seen rocket attacks, the Iranians are repositioning themselves for something else," said Phillip Smyth, who researches Shiite armed factions for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

"Meanwhile, US troops in Iraq are hunkered down and taking the threat more seriously," Smyth said.

Those troops, deployed as part of the coalition fighting the Islamic State group, have been hit by more than two dozen rocket attacks that have grown gradually deadlier.

Last month, the Pentagon began drafting plans for a major escalation against the Iran-backed factions—namely the hardline Kataeb Hezbollah—blamed for the rockets.

"Washington told us they'd simultaneously hit 122 targets in Iraq if more Americans died," a top Iraqi official said.

The scale of such bombing could have enormous consequences.

Coalition head General Pat White feared it could spin out of control, writing to US Central Command in March with "concerns" that targeted groups would respond, putting thousands of coalition troops in "significant" danger, according to a US military official who saw White's memo.

Non-US coalition members are "nervous" the bombing could kill civilians or push Baghdad to permanently oust foreign troops, diplomats from two coalition countries said.

The plan has been set aside for now as the US fights the spread of COVID-19, three Western diplomats said.

"But if there's another attack and it kills an American, then all of this comes back again," one told AFP.

Coalition 'No Longer Exists'

Washington and Tehran have already edged dangerously close to outright conflict after the US killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad in January, prompting Iran to launch ballistic missiles at US troops in western Iraq.

Apparently fearing more strikes, the US deployed Patriot anti-missile batteries and C-RAM rocket defence systems to Iraq to protect its forces, a move which US officials acknowledged to AFP could be seen by Iran as provocative.

At the same time, it reduced the coalition's presence, pulling out of half the bases it once operated from in Iraq and withdrawing hundreds of trainers indefinitely as a precautionary measure against COVID-19.

As most non-US troops were trainers, that has left relatively more Americans in the remaining forces.

"The coalition as we knew it no longer exists," a Western diplomat from a coalition country told AFP.

A key lawmaker from Fatah, the bloc representing pro-Iran factions, cast doubt on Washington's intentions this week.

"The American side wasn't serious about withdrawing and handing over bases, and was actually re-deploying its troops for tactical reasons to protect its soldiers amid the spread of the coronavirus," said Mohammad Ghabban.

Kataeb Hezbollah has insisted the shifts should lead into a full and permanent withdrawal, raising the prospect of further rocket attacks.

"There will be no death for these forces if they keep withdrawing as part of a total departure from Iraq," the group said this month.

'Turn Up the Flame'

At the same time, apparently new factions have emerged.

In the last month, three previously unknown groups have called for rocket attacks, threatened the American and British ambassadors, and released rare drone footage of the US embassy in Baghdad and the western Ain al-Asad base, which hosts the most coalition troops.

Two top coalition officials said they suspect the groups were "the same old actors"—Kataeb Hezbollah and allies—who were "organising themselves slightly differently".

Smyth said it appeared Iran was restructuring its Iraqi allies and using front groups for plausible deniability.

"There's calm now, but they'll just turn up the flame once the situation improves for them," Smyth added.

In politics, too, the tug-of-war between Iran and the US over Iraq is at a critical juncture.

Premier-designate Mustafa Kadhimi, seen as a compromise figure, is preparing his cabinet and US officials are due to visit Baghdad in June for key talks.

"This was a roller-coaster relationship—it shouldn't be," said an Iraqi official with knowledge of the talks.

But if Kadhimi fails, a Western diplomat told AFP, the US may cast Iraq's government as irreversibly "hostile and pro-Iran" and introduce new sanctions.

Even the June talks could lead to more polarisation, said Renad Mansour, a researcher at Chatham House.

"The US want to push the Iraqi government to choose a side, which could be a risky move," he told AFP.

"It's almost making the Iraqi government decide: are you with us or against us?"

Photo: Wikicommons

Iran Says Virus Deaths Rise by 87 to 5,118

Iran on Sunday announced 87 new deaths from the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, raising the official toll to 5,118, as it takes steps to reopen the economy.

It is the sixth consecutive day that Iran has announced a death toll under 100, though Sunday's toll was 14 higher than the day before.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 1,343 new infections had been confirmed, taking the total to 82,211.

Of those admitted to hospital, 57,023 have recovered and been discharged, while 3,456 remain in critical condition.

Iran has struggled to contain what is the Middle East's deadliest COVID-19 outbreak since reporting its first cases on February 19.

Some officials and health experts in Iran and abroad have said the country's casualty figures may be higher than those declared. 

On Saturday, Iran allowed some "low-risk" businesses in the capital Tehran to reopen, after approving similar measures in other provinces last week.

"Medium-risk" businesses could reopen Monday, President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday after a meeting of the national coronavirus taskforce. 

He did not elaborate on the types of businesses considered "medium risk" or whether the measure covered the whole country, but said those businesses would have to close by 6 pm. 

In a bid to halt the spread of the coronavirus, Iran had ordered the closure of non-essential businesses and imposed inter-city travel bans, but refrained from imposing an official lockdown.

The reopening of the economy has drawn criticism from health experts and even some government officials.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Says Virus Deaths Rise 92 to 4,869

Iran on Thursday announced 92 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, the third straight day that official fatalities remained in double digits in the Middle East's worst-hit country.

Health ministry spokesman Kinaoush Jahanpour told a news conference the latest deaths brought the official total to 4,869.

He added that 1,606 new infections had been confirmed in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 77,995 from 310,340 tests.

Of those confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus and admitted to hospital, 52,229 had been discharged after recovering, which he described as a "rising trend".

Another 3,594 patients are in critical condition.

There has been speculation abroad that the number of deaths and infections is higher than officially announced.

A report published Tuesday by parliament said the real death toll from Iran's outbreak was estimated to be as much as 80 percent more than that announced by the government.

The number of COVID-19 infections were estimated to be "eight to 10 times" higher.

It said the officially announced figures were based only on "patients that are hospitalised with severe symptoms".

It also criticized the government for being slow to act against the outbreak and said a "second wave" of the virus may come next winter—possibly without a break due to containment measures taking too long.

In a statement on Thursday, the office that carried out the report denied it contradicted official figures and accused "foreign media" of lying and distorting its contents to "undermine official statistics".

'Second Wave'

A deputy health minister confirmed the numbers may be higher due to limited testing but rejected estimates based on "incorrect modelling", without directly addressing the report.

"The cases we have confirmed are certainly not the actual totals. But there are no exact assessments in the world, save for South Korea which has had many tests done," Alireza Raisi was quoted as saying on Wednesday by state news agency IRNA.

The ministry had also stopped provincial medical universities from reporting figures on their own, IRNA reported.

It argued such announcements have at times prompted Iranians to travel from worse-hit provinces to less-infected ones and further spread the virus.

The government of President Hassan Rouhani has struggled to contain the outbreak that emerged two months ago.

It shut schools and universities, postponed major events and imposed a range of other restrictions, but it has stopped short of ordering lockdowns.

Iran allowed small businesses outside Tehran to reopen on Saturday and is set to extend the measure to the capital next week.

The move has faced criticism from health experts and even some authorities, while top officials argue that sanctions-hit Iran cannot afford to shut down the economy.

State television showed busy banks, government offices and taxi queues in various provinces on Thursday.

It said that "smart social distancing,” a set of measures announced by Iran to keep both the economy running and prevent infections,” may still be applicable only on paper."

Photo: IRNA

Iran Says Virus Deaths Below 100 for Second Day

Iran on Wednesday said new deaths from the novel coronavirus remained in double figures for the second day in a row, as the country gradually reopens its sanctions-hit economy.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 94 deaths from the COVID-19 disease were recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall toll to 4,777.

Another 1,512 people tested positive for the illness.

That took the total number of infections to 76,389, Jahanpour said, noting that 49,933 of those hospitalised had recovered and been discharged.

The government of President Hassan Rouhani has struggled to contain the outbreak that emerged two months ago.

It shut schools and universities, postponed major events and imposed a range of other restrictions, but it has stopped short of ordering lockdowns.

Iran allowed small businesses outside Tehran to reopen on Saturday and is set to extend the measure to the capital next week.

The move has faced criticism from health experts and even some authorities.

Rouhani and other top officials have argued that the economy must reopen amid diminishing oil and tax revenues coupled with US sanctions on the country.

"We have to fight both the disease and unemployment at the same time," Rouhani told a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The president announced the sale of a 10 percent stake in Social Security Organisation's investment arm, known by its Persian acronym SHASTA, on the stock market.

The Tehran Stock Exchange's website put the holding's market capitalisation at 688 trillion rials ($4.3 billion) for the offered eight billion shares.

SHASTA is Iran's biggest holding company with stakes in industries as diverse as construction and pharmaceuticals.

The offering is expected to raise a significant amount of cash for the government, without it giving up control to appoint managers and board members.

While Iran had forecast that its economy would contract by 7.2 percent in the year to March 21, the country's stock market has risen over 187 percent during the same period.

Since then, the Tehran Stock Exchange's main index, the TEDPIX, has climbed by another 20 percent despite the COVID-19 outbreak.

This is while Iran has faced rising inflation and a sharp decline in the value of its national currency.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Says Virus Deaths Drop Below 100 for First Time in Month

Iran said on Tuesday that the number of lives lost in the country to the novel coronavirus dropped to double figures for the first time in one month.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 98 deaths from the COVID-19 disease were recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall toll to 4,683.

“Unfortunately, we lost 98 of our compatriots infected with the disease... but after a month of waiting, this is the first day that the death toll has been double figures," he told a televised news conference.

"We hope that this path will continue with your ongoing cooperation" in observing health guidelines aimed at stopping the spread of the virus, he added.

Jahanpour said another 1,574 people were found to have been infected with the virus.

That took the overall number of infections in Iran's outbreak to 74,877, he said, adding that 48,129 of those hospitalized had recovered and been discharged.

The government of President Hassan Rouhani has struggled to contain the outbreak that began nearly two months ago.

It shut schools and universities, postponed major events and imposed a range of other restrictions, but it has stopped short of ordering lockdowns.

Iran announced its first COVID-19 cases on February 19—the deaths of two people in the Shiite holy city of Qom.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Vows to Protect People From Virus Economic Impact

By Ahmad Parhizi

Iran vowed Monday to protect its people from the economic impact of the novel coronavirus as the official death toll in the Middle East's worst-hit country passed 4,500.

The government of President Hassan Rouhani has struggled to contain the outbreak since it announced the country's first COVID-19 cases nearly two months ago.

It shut schools and universities, postponed major events and imposed a range of other restrictions, but it has stopped short of ordering lockdowns.

The government stressed the importance of striking a balance between the measures aimed at curbing the spread of the virus and getting the economy back on track.

The objective was to protect "the health and lives of the population from the coronavirus and its economic and social consequences", said government spokesman Ali Rabiei.

"Intelligent (social) distancing has the same objective... we must ensure the health of society while preserving the social and economic life" of the country, said Rabiei.

"The priority will always be given to health policies," he told a televised news conference.

Rouhani announced last week that "low-risk" businesses would be allowed to reopen in order to protect Iran's sanctions-hit economy.

The move took effect on Saturday outside Tehran and it is set to be implemented in the capital a week later.

Uptick in Traffic

And while the restrictions remain in place in Tehran, there has been a noticable uptick in the flow of traffic in the city this working week.

On Monday, motorists drove past newly erected billboards paying tribute to doctors and nurses who have been on the front line of Iran's COVID-19 battle.

The president on Monday cautioned against neglecting the containment measures, however.

"The implementation of health protocols should continue in a strong and forceful manner," Rouhani said.

The health ministry on Monday announced another 111 coronavirus deaths and 1,617 new infections, bringing the official totals to 4,585 and 73,303, respectively.

But ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said the number of coronavirus infections was stabilising and that 45,983 patients had recovered.

"The trend of relatively stable and decreasing new cases of contamination, which has been observed in recent days, has also continued over the past 24 hours," said Jahanpour.

"People must always continue to avoid unnecessary travel," he said, in order to stop the spread of the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease.

Iran announced its first COVID-19 cases on February 19—the deaths of two people in the Shiite holy city of Qom.

But there has been speculation abroad that the real toll from the disease in the Islamic republic could be higher.

Photo: IRNA