As of July 26, 2,91,172 cases of COVID-19 had been reported in Iran, of which 2,53,213 had recovered and 15,700 had been killed. As a result, the total number of active instances is lately 22,000.
As Iran is among the first outdoor countries in China to record an outbreak of COVID-19 and remains the most affected country in West Asia in terms of total death, the figures presented through the government give some hope to the country that is still intended as being in the phase of virus spread.
Iran has a population of approximately 84 million, many of which count for their well-being in the state’s vast social coverage and social security apparatus. The country has faced demanding situations in its economy due to unilateral sanctions imposed throughout the United States. In the existing pandemic situation, increased spending on fitness has also undermined Iran’s resources.
U.S. sanctions have disadvantaged Iran from its main source of export revenue, to maintain social spending on fitness and other services. More than 80% of all Iranian export profits came here from the sale of oil and fuel in foreign markets before sanctions were imposed in May 2018. Without that export revenue, Iran faces a harder challenge in dealing with the fitness crisis.
While the percentage of hydrocarbon production in the Iranian economy is less than 20%, it readjusts the main export product. However, many of Iran’s consuming countries have withdrawn their concerns about secondary US sanctions. In that context, attempts to diversify the export segment or search for select buyers may take time. Such attempts are also seriously hampered by the COVID-19 epidemic that has led to the closure of maximum sectors of the national economy at a time when Iranians are in domestic production to restrict the effects of sanctions.
Iran’s ability to fight the disease has also been hampered by U.S. sanctions, though President Hassan Rohani has said otherwise. Although Iran has a physically good public system, the impressive number of cases and novelty of the disease have forced the country to seek foreign support. However, U.S. sanctions have limited Iran’s access to critical medical materials because foreign suppliers cannot be a hostile superpower.
Moreover, Iran’s inability to discharge the mandatory monetary assistance of the IMF foreign loan firm, even under pressure from the United States, has made it difficult for the economy to have an effect on the pandemic.
Although the number of infections in Iran is higher since the first case was reported in February, the mortality rate, even at its peak, was around 10%. Despite a recent increase in cases, the mortality rate has now fallen to 6%. While this percentage is higher compared to some countries such as Germany, it is close to the mortality rate in China and is much lower than in other European countries, such as France and Italy, where it is still above 15%.
Iran can deal with the effect of sanctions and combat the pandemic with very important diplomatic and humanitarian assistance from countries like China.
China sent its first medical team to Iran with mandatory medical equipment and devices on February 29, within 10 days of Iran’s notification of its first COVID-19 case. Chinese experts and volunteers reveled in providing the mandatory recommendation to their Iranian counterparts.
#Des Chinese medical specialists come to #Iran to combat #coronavirus https://t.co/8eS0Feg7Or pic.twitter.com/KaY0GhwPsl
The other Chinese also made an individual donation for COVID-19’s aid efforts in Iran. According to an Xinhua article, after the Iranian Embassy in China opened its donation chain on Weibo social media in March, they won more than $5,67,000 in donations in 24 hours. Several reports on Chinese aid to Iran in the form of medical supplies, masks, prefabricated rooms, waste disposal facilities, among others, have also appeared in the media.
انصد اتاق پیش ساخته بیمارستانی اهدایی دو شرکت چینی شامل تخت, میز, صندلی این هفته با یک هواپیماداهاه باهاه باهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاهاه. این محموله قابلیت تجهیز فوری یک بیمارستان صحرایی پانصد تخته خوابی را دارد. pic.twitter.com/ymukcwH569
Iran itself shipped tankers with oil and other products to Venezuela in June. In addition to providing essential commodities to Venezuela, this has provided monetary resources to Iran to deal with demanding economic situations in Venezuela. This resolution was also a vital ethical victory for the anti-imperialist movement in the world, especially in the context of the particular threats of the United States opposed to it.
The Iranian government has also consolidated its relations with Russia and China through long-term “friendship treaties”. This has led to raising eyebrows in the United States. Russia has pushed for Iran’s accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional grouping involving Russia, China and some Central Asian countries.
The Iranian government, basically under pressure from the business network known as the bazaar and the devout institutions, considered it mandatory to lift the closure in May despite the considerations expressed by skill officials on such unwelcome measures. The government had legalized the reopening of almaximum in all workplaces and recreation centers in the country with public dispatch operating at full capacity as before the imposition of the blockade. This led to a moment of clustering of cases, prompting the government to be forced to reimpose some of the restrictions from early July on 8 of the worst-affected provinces, adding southern Hormozgan, Razavi Khorasan, Khuzestan and Bushehr, among others. These spaces are now designated as red zones.
However, Iran has been able to build infrastructure and now has a safe and normal source of medical products. This has given the government a break to start with tactics to revive the economy. On July 23, the Iranian government presented a program of two hundred billion riyals (about $1 billion) to help others who cannot afford to hire due to closure. You will get a $2,300 loan for each tenant to the landlord. Similarly, the government has strengthened social security measures for retirees by injecting more money.
However, there are some spaces of concern. In response to calls from foreign civil society and the United Nations, Iran released prisoners in March to prevent overcrowding in prisons and save vulnerable inmates from potential epidemics in internal prisons. However, maximum political prisoners have been denied such assistance. Now that the instances have begun to increase again, political prisoners remain vulnerable. In the existing context, a series of calls have been made for the government to release prisoners vulnerable to the virus, such as the elderly and those threatened by comorities.
To date, Iran has conducted more than 2.2 million tests. The recent accumulation of infections has been attributed to a build-up in the tests. However, the figures seem impressive, there are many hypotheses that the Iranian government is hiding the actual figures and has also stopped publishing some knowledge lately.
According to president Rouhani, 25 million Iranians have been infected and it is expected that another 35 million would be at the risk in the coming month. There is also news about a domestic vaccine project passing the initial tests successfully. However, the rising number of new cases and deaths is alarming, last week being the worst with over 2,500 new cases and close to 200 deaths detected daily, highlighting the fact that Iran needs to be more careful in dealing with the disease.