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◢ The UN rights chief called Tuesday for any sanctions imposed on countries like Iran facing the new coronavirus pandemic to be "urgently reevaluated" to avoid pushing strained medical systems into collapse. "In a context of global pandemic, impeding medical efforts in one country heightens the risk for all of us," she said.
◢ The EU on Monday urged the international community to send humanitarian aid to Iran to help its coronavirus fight, arguing that such steps would not breach US sanctions. The bloc is preparing to send 20 million euros' worth of humanitarian aid to Iran, where new coronavirus has killed more than 1,800 people, making it one of the countries hit hardest by the pandemic.
◢ Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday said authorities' efforts to combat the COVID-19 epidemic would produce significant results within 15 days, as the country's official death toll from the virus surpassed 1,500. "The principle is that, as much as possible, people do not leave their homes," Rouhani said. He also urged "shopping centers where large numbers of people gather" to close.
◢ The United States on Thursday slapped sanctions on five companies based in the United Arab Emirates for allegedly shipping oil from Iran in defiance of President Donald Trump's unilateral sanctions. The sanctions mark a rare US action against firms in the UAE, a close ally of Washington in its campaign against Tehran.
◢ Iranian authorities on Thursday announced 149 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, raising the toll to 1,284 in a country that is one of the worst hit by the pandemic. While Thursday's death toll surpassed that of the previous day's—147 were reported on Wednesday—the number of new cases has fallen, according to figures provided by Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raisi.
◢ A 103-year-old woman in Iran has recovered after being infected with the new coronavirus, state media reported, despite overwhelming evidence the elderly are most at risk from the disease. The unnamed woman had been hospitalized in the central city of Semnan for about a week, IRNA news agency said.
◢ Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday defended the response to the new coronavirus outbreak by his administration, which has yet to impose a lockdown to stop the disease spreading. Rouhani's government says the virus has killed 1,135 people and infected 17,161 others in the month since it first emerged in the Islamic republic.
◢ Iran said 135 new coronavirus deaths took the country’s overall toll to nearly 1,000 Tuesday, as it curtailed new year celebrations in a bid to contain the disease. Officials reiterated calls for Iranians to stay at home during the outbreak and asked them to report possible symptoms on a ministry website.
◢ Iran on Monday closed four key Shiite pilgrimage sites to stop a coronavirus outbreak that has killed over 850 people out of nearly 15,000 cases recorded in the country. People angry over the decision protested outside Qom's Fatima Masumeh shrine, some chanting "religious slogans" and damaging the entrance door, IRNA reported.
◢ Iran appealed Sunday to its citizens to stay at home to halt a coronavirus outbreak it said has claimed over 700 lives and infected nearly 14,000 people. President Hassan Rouhani denied lockdowns had been imposed on entire areas, and said provincial officials were not allowed to decide on the issue.
◢ The US Congress on Wednesday gave its final approval to a resolution to restrain President Donald Trump from attacking Iran after months of soaring tensions. The House of Representatives voted 227-186 to join the Senate in support of the resolution, which bars any military action against Iran without an explicit vote from Congress.
◢ Iran said on Thursday that it has sought immediate financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund to help it combat one of the world's deadliest coronavirus outbreaks. The various loans that can be granted by the IMF must be approved by the institution's executive board, where the United States practically has a veto on decisions.
◢ Iran pledged Wednesday at a meeting of UN civil aviation agency to hand over black boxes from downed Flight 752 to Ukraine or France for analysis—a move welcomed by Canada and Ukraine. Iran's representative at the International Civil Aviation Organization in Montreal, Farhad Parvaresh, said the devices would be sent to Kiev.
◢ Iran on Wednesday reported 63 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, the highest single-day toll in the three weeks since the Islamic republic announced the first deaths from the outbreak. It is yet to officially impose quarantines but authorities have repeatedly called on people to refrain from traveling.
◢ Iran Air said Tuesday it would resume flights to Europe, lifting a two-day suspension apparently linked to a ban on the carrier's planes entering European airspace. According to several specialized sites, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on February banned some Iran Air aircraft from European airspace.
◢ Iran on Tuesday reported 54 new deaths from the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the highest single-day toll since the start of the country's outbreak. The latest deaths bring the number of those killed by the virus in the Islamic republic to 291, the health ministry's spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised conference.
◢ Iran's supreme leader has cancelled an annual speech marking the start of the Persian new year, his office announced Monday, as the country's death toll from novel coronavirus mounts. The speech given by the supreme leader in Mashhad each year usually sets out the country's key objectives for the 12 months to come.
◢ Iran Air on Sunday announced the suspension of all its flights to Europe until further notice, a decision apparently linked to a ban on the carrier's planes from entering European airspace. The statement issued by the company made no mention of the novel coronavirus epidemic as a cause, citing only "restrictions" imposed by European authorities for "unknown reasons.”
