Radiofarda – Iranian officials say government entities are trying to send back working children who live in Iran back to their countries, primarily Afghanistan, due to the coronavirus epidemic. Around three million Afghans live and work in Iran but there are also many children with or without parents who do menial jobs or are waste pickers. Latest figures from 2019 …

Radiofarda -In a meeting of the Coronavirus Combat Taskforce Saturday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the Health Ministry’s decision to limit and control road trips between eleven provinces was worthwhile and called on officials to inform the public before taking any steps in this regard. According to the government website, Rouhani who took part in the meeting of the taskforce …

Radiofarda – Iran’s second largest city and a pilgrim destination, Mashhad, is facing the threat of turning into a new coronavirus (COVID-19) hotspot if immediate measures including a lockdown are not put into effect, local officials warned on Saturday. The situation seems critical enough to have forced the powerful ultraconservative religious and political establishment of the city to capitulate and …

RFL/RE – Syria’s bloody civil war enters its 10th year with the government of President Bashar al-Assad appearing to be consolidating his hold on power, backed by crucial military and political support from Russia and Iran.The conflict began when Syrians took to the streets on March 15, 2011, to protest against Assad’s government, which then launched a brutal crackdown that …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – While Iran is experiencing one of its worst crisis due to an uncontrolled Coronavirus outbreak, the authorities continue implementing execution of death row prisoners.  According to the semi-official Tasnim News Agency, a prisoner was hanged on Wednesday, March 11, at the central prison of Tabriz, East Azerbaijan province. He was charged with “corruption on earth” for raping …

gatestoneinstitute.org – South Korea, a non-Western capitalist democracy, did not try to hush things up but was hampered by another factor: The “bleeding-heart” liberal insistence on respect for religious diversity. Because the epidemic started in a Christian fundamentalist community, the authorities in Seoul were hesitant to magnify the threat and take drastic measures such as imposing a quarantine on the …

RFL/RE -Another 97 people in Iran infected with the coronavirus have died, pushing the death toll to 611, state TV reported on March 14. Citing a Health Ministry official, the report said Iran, suffering the worst outbreak in the Middle East, has registered a total of 12,729 confirmed cases. Critics fear the real number of cases, however, could be much …

Radiofarda – Arresting people for disseminating information about the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus in Iran has gained momentum in the past two days. The admin of a news website, Entekhab, Mostafa Faqihi (Faghihi) is among the detainees, Iran Times telegram Channel reported on Friday, March 13. Earlier on March 10, Faqihi had tweeted that nearly 2,000 have died …

Radiofarda – One day after Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei handed over Coronavirus control and prevention to the armed forces, General Mohammad Baqeri, Chief of the joint staff of the Iranian armed forces says his troops are planning to make sure that the people will leave roads and supermarkets in 24 hours. Baqeri was tasked on Thursday by Khamenei to …

Al-Arabia – Nasser Shabani, a senior commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has died from coronavirus, the IRGC said on Friday. For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page. At least five other IRGC members have died from coronavirus, according to IRGC spokesman Ramezan Sharif. At least 13 Iranian regime figures have died from coronavirus and 11 others were infected since the beginning …