BBC – Iran is facing one of the largest coronavirus outbreaks in the world. Today, as families celebrate Persian New Year, Nowruz, there is concern the true scale of the virus is being downplayed by the government and could rapidly get much worse. Mohammad has been working relentlessly since the coronavirus outbreak to save the lives of his patients. The …

Radiofarda – Five former health ministers in Iran have urged the government to limit inter-city travel and close non-essential businesses in order to reduce the pace of coronavirus infections in the country. The former ministers, who are all medical doctors by profession, in a letter to President Hassan Rouhani have argued that one month after the start of the epidemic, …

Radiofarda – Iran’s permanent representative at the UN nuclear watchdog has said “there are no limitations” for international inspectors to visit Iran and perform their work. Kazem Gharib-Abadi was quoted by Iran’s Mizan news agency as saying that even with the coronavirus epidemic inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), based in Vienna, can continue their work in Iran. …

Radiofarda – Iran starts a new year Friday morning March 20, as it leaves behind one of its worst years ever. Iranians on social media have already coined names for the unbelievably destructive year and the opponents of the Islamic regime like to say the end is near. The year started with devastating floods all over the country in March …

Radiofarda – Greeting the coming Iranian New Year the Islamic Republic Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has released a video message saying the lesson he has learned from fighting the deadly coronavirus outbreak calls for the need to “reconstruct the system of governance” and to engage in “capacity building” for non-governmental organizations (NGOs.) “Let me honestly tell you that fighting against coronavirus …

RFL/RE – A U.S. Navy veteran detained in Iran for allegedly insulting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and posting private information online has been released on medical furlough. Michael White (right) poses with his mother in Washington in an undated photo. Californian Michael White had been serving a 13-year sentence following his arrest in 2018, the State Department said in …

RFL/RE – As Iran battles the coronavirus epidemic, people across the country have been working to ease the impact of the crisis. Volunteers are distributing food aid to poor families, sterilizing surfaces in public places, and sewing extra face masks for health workers.

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – Death-row prisoner Alireza Sa’daei was hanged at Zanjan prison on March 11, 2020.  According to IHR sources, Alireza Sa’daei was executed on the morning of Wednesday, March 11, at the central prison of Zanjan city, Iran. He was sentenced to qisas (retribution) for murdering his cousin four years ago. The plaintiff was Alireza’s own paternal …

Al-Monitor – Iranian health officials that the country could be fighting the novel coronavirus for at least another two months, if not longer. The head of the Medical Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr. Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi, said March 18 that while some officials have claimed that Iran has reached the peak of the epidemic, he does not believe it. He …

Al-Monitor – There is no doubt that the current coronavirus crisis will undermine the Iranian economy and lead to a major contraction in the country’s gross domestic product. Some early estimates project a contraction of up to 3%, though it is too early to offer a reliable assessment. The Iranian government has already announced a number of measures to support vulnerable social …