Health and Hygiene

RFL/RE – A Swiss pharmaceutical firm has completed the first transaction under a new humanitarian trade channel with Iran, the government of Switzerland said on July 27. Trial operations started in January under the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA) to bring food and medicine to the struggling Iranian population without violating U.S. sanctions. “We would like to emphasize that the …

VOA – Iran reported 216 new deaths from the novel coronavirus on Sunday, calling on its citizens to observe health protocols more closely to ease the burden on exhausted medical staff. The Islamic republic announced its first COVID-19 cases on February 19, and the outbreak quickly became the Middle East’s deadliest. Declared coronavirus deaths have surged since the end of …

Radiofarda – Iran’s deputy health minister has denied any intention to move toward “a policy of herd immunity” in regard with COVID-19, arguing that countries such as Britain and Sweden and did so “failed”. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on July had referred to a report that said 25 million Iranians have already contract the coronavirus and another 35 million could …

Radiofarda – The Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday stressed the importance of holding Muharram mourning ceremonies everywhere, even in coronavirus hotspots, but also underlined that social distancing protocols including wearing masks should be observed. Shiites around the world hold huge mourning ceremonies on the lunar anniversary of the death of Imam Hossein (Hussain ibn Ali), the grandson of the …

PayvandNews – A group of independent UN human rights experts has called for Iran to urgently release an activist who reportedly is ill with COVID-19 symptoms “before it is too late”. They said Narges Mohammadi appears to have contracted the virus in Zanjan Prison, located in the capital, Tehran, where she is serving a 16-year sentence stemming from her work on human …

RFL/RE – A provocative street protest in southwestern Iran last week that was critical of the Islamic establishment has many predicting more demonstrations are coming amid the country’s faltering economy and anger over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic.People in the city of Behbahan chanted anti-government slogans including “Mullah’s regime, we don’t want it!” before the July 16 protest was …

Radiozamaneh – This paper is a critique of Vira Ameli’s essay titled “Sanctions and Sickness,” which was published in the March/April 2020 edition of the New Left Review. In her essay, Ameli employs selective evidence and makes inaccurate claims. Her piece is not only an unreserved defense of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), but a deceitful portrayal of the …

iranhr– Iran must release human rights defender Narges Mohammadi, reportedly ill with coronavirus symptoms, and other arbitrarily detained individuals before it is too late, a group of UN human rights experts said today. The group of 16 experts expressed grave concerns that Ms. Mohammadi appears to have contracted COVID-19 in Zanjan Prison. Ms. Mohammadi has been in detention since 2015 on …

PayvandNews – The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has infected 2,586 people in Iran in the past 24 hours, increasing the total cases to 281,413, said Health Ministry Spokesperson Sima Lari on Wednesday. Speaking in her daily briefing, Lari said that 1,934 of the new confirmed cases have been hospitalized. She added that 219 people died of the disease in the …

Radiofarda – A senior member of the National Coronavirus Combat Taskforce has reacted to the possible adoption of “herd immunity policy” by the government of President Hassan Rouhani, saying it is “inefficient”. President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday said according to the estimates of the Health Ministry up to 25 million people in Iran have already been infected since the breakout …