Radiofarda – The turnout in the parliamentary elections in Iran last Friday has been the lowest since 1979 when the Islamic Republic was established. Nevertheless, the government does not seem to be concerned. As usual, officials have blamed matters such as the spread of Coronavirus as the cause for the low turnout. Iran’s Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli has said …

Radiofarda – Commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Brigadier General Hossein Salami on Monday offered assistance in combating COVID-19 coronavirus to Health Minister Saeed Namaki. In a phone call to the Health Minister on Monday Salami said the IRGC was prepared “for any assistance to the organizations and authorities in charge of combating coronavirus and preventing its spread,” the Revolutionary Guard-affiliated …

Radiofarda – The Chief of Tehran Prevention Police on Monday said 500,000 masks hoarded by an Iranian man and his Chinese wife have been discovered in a residential parking in eastern Tehran. According to Keyvan Zahiri, neighbors alerted the police that the masks, now very highly in demand due to coronavirus outbreak in Iran, were being hoarded in the couple’s …

Radiofarda – In a one-on-one talk with the Washington Free Beacon, the U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has outlined the next steps the Trump administration will be taking to confront “Tehran’s growing influence in key Arab nations”, including Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. “The Trump administration is waging a multi-pronged effort to thwart Iran’s expansion across the Middle East, …

Radiofarda – Iraq on Monday confirmed its first novel coronavirus case in an elderly Iranian national in the southern shrine city of Najaf, according to health officials. Iraq, a country with a dilapidated healthcare system, often hosts pilgrims and religious students from Iran, where 12 people have died of the novel coronavirus since an outbreak there was first reported last …

Radiofarda – Despite a dangerous spread of corovirus in Iran, there is evidence that at least one Iranian airline is still continuing flights to China. A flight tracking website, Flightradar24 shows Mahan airlines, with links to the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) and sanctioned by U.S., flew from Beijing to Tehran (Flight W578) three days ago and landed at 4:40 in the …

Radiofarda – Iranian authorities reported two more deaths from the deadly coronavirus, bringing the country’s death toll to eight — the highest such toll outside the disease’s epicenter in China. Speaking February 23 on state TV, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said a total of 15 new confirmed cases had been reported across the country, bringing the overall figure to …

Al-Arabia – Coronavirus has killed around 50 people in Qom, the Iranian city’s representative in parliament said, according to the semi-official ILNA news agency. The comments by MP Ahmad Amirabadi Farhani suggest that coronavirus is far more widepsread in Iran than previously thought. The Iranian government announced on Monday morning that the total stood at 12 in the entire country, raising questions …

Iran-HRM – A revolutionary court in Tehran sentenced three labor rights activists to prison and lashes. According to the verdict issued by Tehran’s Revolutinary Court, the three activists, Roham Yeganeh, Farid Lotfabadi and Hirad Pirbodaghi were each sentenced to six months in prison for “assembly and collusion against national security.”In addition, Roham Yeganeh and Farid Lotfabadi were each sentenced to …

RFL/RE – Fears of a coronavirus pandemic, or global outbreak, are growing as countries including Iran, Italy, and South Korea are battling to contain the spread of the disease that has already killed around 2,600 people in China.Afghanistan, Iraq, Bahrain, and Kuwait on February 24 reported their first cases of the COVID-19 virus — all involving people who had come …