Social and Political

Radiofarda – Iran’s Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raeesi says 1501 Iranians have tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) and at least 66 have died until Monday morning March 2. Raeesi told reporters in Tehran that the new figure includes 523 new cases and that the death toll has risen by 12 during the past day. He also told Mehr news agency …

Radiofarda – Lloyds Intelligence says, “Deceptive shipping practices from offshore loadings from the Iraqi port of Khor al-Zubair reveal hidden cargoes of sanctioned Iranian fuel oil are being shipped to Malaysia and Fujairah.” About 2.1m tons of oil derivatives were loaded from the offshore port limit of the Iraqi port Khor al-Zubair in January, Lloyd’s List Intelligence data shows. Subsequently, …

Radiofarda – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has assigned the Minister of Intelligence Mahmoud Alavi, to investigate possible hoarding of medical coveralls and protective masks used against Covid-19, publicly known as novel coronavirus. Rouhani’s Chief of Staff, Mahmoud Vaezi said on Sunday, March 1, “The President’s decision is a response to the Health Minister’s recent letter, complaining about the scarcity of …

Radiofarda – A man who challenged coronavirus health warnings and to make a religious statement licked the grids at a shrine in Iran has been arrested. Videos showing Iranians licking and kissing the grids of Shi’ite holy shrines across the country have gone viral in recent days. The videos are widely circulated on social media at a time of an …

Radiofarda – Iran’s armed forces have postponed conscription of soldiers scheduled to start their two-year compulsory military service in the coming weeks until mid-April. The Spokesman of Armed Forces Coronavirus Combat Task Force, Brigadier General Dr. Hassan Araqizadeh, on Monday announced the decision to delay new conscriptions for at least two months. Those who will finish their training in a …

Iran is using police water cannons loaded with chemical spray to disinfect streets in Tehran as a protective measure against coronavirus, semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported on Sunday.These are the same units that were used during demonstrations to disburse protesters, according to Twitter users.“Special Forces Units of Iran’s Islamic Regime Police, which played a key role in suppression of #RecentProtests used their …

Al-Arabia – The United Arab Emirates Air Force carried out a coronavirus aid mission to Iran on Monday in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), the UAE’s official WAM news agency reported. A UAE military aircraft was dispatched with six medics onboard, as well as 7.5 tons of medical equipment and supplies including laboratory diagnostic kits, hundreds of thousands …

Iran-HRM – Political prisoner Soheil Arabi is in horrible health conditions due severe pain caused by “blunt trauma” and infection in the body and frequent coughs.This is while not physicians remain in the Greater Tehran Penitentiary and the prisoner’s inquiries to get medicines have got nowhere. Prison authorities do not account for the life and health of prisoners. He needs …

VOA – A member of a council that advises Iran’s supreme leader died Monday after falling sick from the new coronavirus, state radio reported, becoming the first top official to succumb to the illness that is affecting members of the Islamic Republic’s leadership.   The death of Expediency Council member Mohammad Mirmohammadi came as Iran announced the virus had killed 66 …

gatestoneinstitute.org – For the first time in 40 years…. [t]he so-called “moderates” and “reformists” whose task was to give a North Korean-style regime a Scandinavian varnish have been reduced to insignificance…. Thus even without Ahmadinejad’s bloc, the IRGC and affiliates enjoy a solid majority. The fact that the new Majlis reflects the true nature of the regime as never before must be …