TEHRAN: As Iran faces what looks like its worst wave of the coronavirus pandemic yet, Tehran commuters still pour into its subway system and buses each working day, even as images of the gasping ill are repeatedly shown on state television every night.
After facing criticism for downplaying the virus last year, Iranian authorities have put partial lockdowns and other measures back in place to try and slow the virus’ spread.
But in this nation of 84 million people, which faces crushing US sanctions, many struggle to earn enough to feed their families. Economic pressure, coupled with the growing uncertainty over when vaccines will be widely available in the Islamic Republic, have many simply giving up on social distancing, considering it an unaffordable luxury. That has public health officials worried the worst of the pandemic still may be yet to come.
“I cannot stop working,” said Mostafa Shahni, a worried 34-year-old construction worker in Tehran. “If I do, I can’t bring home bread for my wife and two kids.”
Iran is now reporting its highest-ever new coronavirus case numbers — more than 25,000 a day. Its daily death toll has surged to around 400, still below the grim record of 486 it reached in November.
During the peak of Iran’s last surge, around 20,000 coronavirus patients were hospitalized across the country. Today, that figure has topped 40,000. The health ministry warns the number will climb to 60,000 in the coming weeks. Iran remains among the hardest-hit countries in the world and the worst-hit in the Middle East.
Across Tehran, Associated Press journalists have seen signs of the pandemic’s toll.
At Tehran’s Shohadaye Tajrish Hospital, orderlies pushed the bodies of two victims of the coronavirus across a parking lot to its morgue, one wrapped in white, the other in a black body bag. All of its wards on five floors of the hospital are reserved for coronavirus patients. One empty gurney held a bouquet of roses left for a recently deceased man. A heart-shaped balloon hovered over a still respirator.
At the massive Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery, already reeling from the pandemic, workers laid cinder-block rows of new graves. Mourners in black wept at a stream of funerals. Officials plan to open a new morgue at the site to handle the wave of death, much wrought by what Iranians simply call “corona.”
Saeed Khal, the director of Tehran’s main cemetery, said workers buried 350 bodies there on Tuesday alone — at least 150 had died of coronavirus. The cemetery had never processed that many burials in a single day, not even during Iran’s war with Iraq in the 1980s that saw 1 million people killed.
It was “one of the hardest and saddest days for my colleagues in the half-century-history of the cemetery,” Khal told state TV.
So much is the influx that some burials are being delayed by a day, unusual for Iran which follows the Islamic practice of immediately burying the dead.
Outside the gates of Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Hospital complex, where the capital’s poor can receive free treatment at its 1,300 beds, scores crowded around one recent day as guards turned away routine cases and allowed in only test-confirmed coronavirus cases.
“They say the wards are full of corona patients,” said Manijeh Taheri, who sought a regular thyroid treatment for her mother at the hospital. “I have no idea where to take her when such a huge complex has no place for my mother.”
Field hospitals are being prepared in Tehran and other major cities. State TV has shown images at hospitals outside the capital with patients being treated in hallways.
“We are not going out of the red zone any time soon,” Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raisi told state media.
President Hassan Rouhani blames the current surge on the fast-spreading variant of the virus first found in Britain, which the government says arrived from neighboring Iraq. Travel between the countries has been restricted since March, though people and commerce continue to cross each day. Overall, Iran has seen 2.2 million reported cases and 67,000 deaths in total.
Lawmaker Jalil Rahimi Jahanabadi blamed government mismanagement and continued US sanctions for the virus’ spread.
“Sanctions, challenges and wrong decisions will continue. We do not have sufficient vaccines so protect yourself and your relatives through personal health measures,” he wrote on Twitter.
As of now, Iran has administered over 500,000 vaccine doses, according to the WHO. Supplies, however, remain limited. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has banned US and British-made coronavirus vaccines, saying their import is “forbidden” because he does not trust those nations. Khamenei has approved the import of vaccines from “safe” countries, such as China and Russia, and has backed national efforts to produce a homegrown vaccine with help from Cuba.
But officials keep changing when they say the wider public will be vaccinated as it remains unclear when Tehran will have a promised 60 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine.
Amir Afkhami, an associate professor at George Washington University, said that over the past year, Iran’s leadership could point to superpowers like the US struggling to contain the virus. With vaccines rolled out in the West and economies reopening, this could become much more difficult to do, he said.
“Ultimately Iran is not self-sufficient when it comes to COVID-19 vaccine development, and it doesn’t have the (intensive care unit) beds to absorb the patients it needs to so it really needs external help,” Afkhami said.
Authorities across Iran have closed mosques, restaurants and parks during Ramadan, the Islamic holy fasting month being observed by Muslims around the world. An evening curfew for private cars is in place and travel between cities is banned. Parliament has been suspended for two weeks.
But the wider fatigue from the virus has seen people ignore warnings and host fast-breaking meals known as iftars indoors. Already, authorities blamed celebrations around the Iranian New Year known as Nowruz in March for contributing to this wave.
Masoud Mardani, an infectious disease specialist on Iran’s COVID-19 national task force, has demanded a public curfew. But none so far has come.
Sanctions-battered Iran, weary of pandemic, faces worst wave
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Sanctions-battered Iran, weary of pandemic, faces worst wave
- Iran is now reporting its highest-ever new coronavirus case numbers — more than 25,000 a day
- At the massive Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery, already reeling from the pandemic, workers laid cinder-block rows of new graves
Fire at Turkiye ski resort hotel kills 10, injures 32
- The blaze at the 12-story Grand Kartal hotel, which has wooden cladding, started at 3:27 a.m.
- The resort is located on top of a mountain range about 170km northwest of Ankara
The blaze at the 12-story Grand Kartal hotel, which has wooden cladding, started at 3:27 a.m. (0027 GMT), Ali Yerlikaya said on X.
Private NTV broadcaster said three people died after jumping from the hotel’s windows.
The resort is located on top of a mountain range about 170 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of the capital Ankara.
The fire, which is believed to have started in the restaurant at around midnight, spread quickly. It was not immediately clear what caused it.
Television footage showed huge plumes of smoke rising into the sky with a snowcapped mountain behind the hotel.
Part of it backs onto a cliff, making it harder for firefighters to tackle the blaze.
Local media said 237 people were staying at the hotel, where the occupancy rate was between 80 and 90 percent due to the school holidays.
Those evacuated were rehoused in nearby hotels.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said six prosecutors had been allocated to investigate the blaze.
The health, interior and culture ministers are expected to visit the site later in the day.
Trump ‘not confident’ Gaza deal will hold
- Donald Trump however believes Hamas had been ‘weakened’ in the war
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Monday he was not confident a ceasefire deal in Gaza would hold, despite trumpeting his diplomacy to secure it ahead of his inauguration.
Asked by a reporter as he returned to the White House whether the two sides would maintain the truce and move on in the agreement, Trump said, “I’m not confident.”
“That’s not our war; it’s their war. But I’m not confident,” Trump said.
Trump, however, said that he believed Hamas had been “weakened” in the war that began with its unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
“I looked at a picture of Gaza. Gaza is like a massive demolition site,” Trump said.
The property tycoon turned populist politician said that Gaza could see a “fantastic” reconstruction if the plan moves ahead.
“It’s a phenomenal location on the sea — best weather. You know, everything’s good. It’s like, some beautiful things could be done with it,” he said.
Israel and Hamas on Sunday began implementing a ceasefire deal that included the exchange of hostages and prisoners.
The plan was originally outlined by then president Joe Biden in May and was pushed through after unusual joint diplomacy by Biden and Trump envoys.
Trump, while pushing for the deal, has also made clear he will steadfastly support Israel.
In one of his first acts, he revoked sanctions on extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank imposed by the Biden administration over attacks against Palestinians.
Syria’s de facto leader congratulates Trump, looks forward to improving relations
- In early January, Washington issued a sanctions exemption for transactions with governing institutions in Syria for six months in an effort to ease the flow of humanitarian assistance
CAIRO: Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa congratulated US President Donald Trump on his inauguration in a statement on Monday, saying he is looking forward to improving relations between the two countries.
“We are confident that he is the leader to bring peace to the Middle East and restore stability to the region,” he said.
The US, Britain, the European Union and others imposed tough sanctions on Syria after a crackdown by ousted President Bashar Assad on pro-democracy protests in 2011 that spiralled into civil war.
In early January, Washington issued a sanctions exemption for transactions with governing institutions in Syria for six months in an effort to ease the flow of humanitarian assistance.
Syria welcomed the move, but has urged a complete lifting of sanctions to support its recovery.
Over 900 aid trucks enter Gaza on 2nd day of truce: UN
- The ceasefire agreement calls for 600 trucks to cross into Gaza per day
UNITED NATIONS, United States: More than 900 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza on Monday, the United Nations said, exceeding the daily target outlined in the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
“Humanitarian aid continues to move into the Gaza Strip as part of a prepared surge to increase support to survivors,” the UN’s humanitarian office (OCHA) said.
“Today, 915 trucks crossed into Gaza, according to information received through engagement with Israeli authorities and the guarantors for the ceasefire agreement.”
Throughout conflict in Gaza, the UN has denounced obstacles restricting the flow and distribution of aid into the battered Palestinian territory.
On Sunday, the day the ceasefire came into force, 630 trucks entered Gaza.
An initial 42-day truce between Israel and Hamas is meant to enable a surge of sorely needed aid for Gaza after 15 months of war.
The ceasefire agreement calls for 600 trucks to cross into Gaza per day.
Hamas ‘ready for dialogue’ with Trump administration, senior official says
- Mousa Abu Marzouk, 74, currently based in Qatar, is native of Gaza, former resident of Virginia
- It is unclear whether statement reflects broad consensus among militant group in Gaza Strip
LONDON: The Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip is ready to engage in dialogue with the US and its new administration under Donald Trump, according to one of its senior officials Mousa Abu Marzouk.
Abu Marzouk, who is a member of Hamas’ political office, told The New York Times on Sunday that the group was “prepared for a dialogue with America and to achieve understanding on everything.”
Abu Marzouk, 74, who is currently based in Qatar, is a native of Gaza and a former resident of Virginia.
His statement came hours after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect in the Gaza Strip, coinciding with the inauguration of a new administration in the White House.
It is unclear whether Abu Marzouk’s words reflect a broad consensus among the militant group in Gaza, which launched a cross-border attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The US has classified Hamas as a terrorist organization since 1997.
Abu Marzouk told The New York Times that Hamas was prepared to welcome an envoy from the Trump administration to the Gaza Strip.
He said: “He can come and see the people and try to understand their feelings and wishes, so that the American position can be based on the interests of all the parties and not only one party.”
Abu Marzouk praised Trump for helping to secure the ceasefire agreement in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, adding that “without President Trump’s insistence on ending the war and his dispatching of a decisive representative, this deal wouldn’t have happened.”