Radiofarda – Deputy commander of the conventional Iranian army, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari says the army knew about a possible COVID-19 outbreak by January 19, more than a month before the Iranian government announced the first cases in the country. “We checked the World Health Organization’s website and alerted our forces,” Sayyari said. This comes while most Iranian officials including President Hassan …

Al-Arabia – Iranians can now donate money to help those affected by coronavirus in the country via the website of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran is the epicenter of coronavirus in the Middle East, with the government reporting 4,869 deaths and 77,995 cases as of Thursday. The option to donate money to help coronavirus victims is the latest addition to …

RFL/RE – The unveiling of a device that purportedly uses magnetic waves to detect coronavirus infections up to 100 meters away was staged as a moment of triumph for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The IRGC, a powerful combination of military, intelligence, political, and economic forces, has come under intense criticism in recent months for its seemingly accidental downing …

HRW – Syria’s health care system has been decimated by war, as have Yemen’s and Libya’s. The Middle East has large populations of refugees and migrants at risk during the pandemic. Then there are the poor who, if they can’t work because of a lockdown, won’t have food to eat. Acting Middle East and North Africa (MENA) director Eric Goldstein …

CHRI – Detained teenage Instagram celebrity Fatemeh Khishvand is currently on a ventilator at Sina Hospital in Tehran after contracting COVID-19 in state custody, while the judge who holds the power to free her is unreachable, according to her lawyer. Judge Mohammad Moghiseh, Who Could Authorize Her Release, Has Been Unreachable “We find it unacceptable that this young woman has …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – A man was hanged at Hamadan prison on Wednesday, April 15, for murder charges. Executions in Iran have continued to be carried out even after the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the country. IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam had previously said, “Executions in Iran have continued to be carried out even after the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) –  The 12th annual report on the death penalty by Iran Human Rights (IHR) and ECPM (Together Against the Death Penalty) provides an assessment and analysis of the death penalty trends in 2019 in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It sets out the number of executions in 2019, the trend compared to previous years, the legislative …

Al-Monitor – The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claims it has invented a device that can detect a person infected with the coronavirus from 100 meters away. Yet, after receiving criticism on the device’s functionality, the IRGC doubled down on the device, insisting that it works. The IRGC commander, Gen. Hossein Salami, told Tasnim News Agency that dozens of countries have contacted Iran …

Radiofarda – According to the latest Health Ministry announcement on Thursday, Iran’s COVID-19 deaths are below 100 for a third day in a row. The number of new cases has not changed much as more testing is now being done. The situation in Tehran, however, is still escalating. In his daily briefing on Thursday, the Spokesman of Iran’s Health Ministry …

Radiofarda – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the Islamic Republic’s net debt to reach 33.8 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, up 22.5 percent compared with the previous year. IMF’s report released on Wednesday, April 15, a day after the publication of its World Economic Outlook, says that Iran’s GDP will be about $ 439.2 billion …