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Associated Press

Iran announced on Tuesday that 11 more people had died from the new coronavirus in the past day, bringing the Islamic republic’s overall death toll to 77.
In all, 2,336 people have been infected with Covid-19 since the outbreak began, including 835 new cases, Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raisi said.
Iran’s supreme leader earlier on Tuesday ordered the country’s armed forces to assist its Health Ministry in combating the spread of the coronavirus.
The decision by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei comes as Iran has the highest death toll from the virus outside China.
Khamenei’s decision was announced after state media broadcast images of him planting a tree wearing disposable gloves.
“Whatever helps public health and prevents the spread of the disease is good and what helps to spread it is sin,” Khamenei said.
After downplaying the coronavirus as recently as last week, Iranian authorities now say they have plans to potentially mobilise 300,000 soldiers and volunteers to confront the epidemic.




On Tuesday, lawmaker Abdolreza Mesri told Iranian state television’s Young Journalists Club programme that 23 members of parliament had the coronavirus. He urged all lawmakers to avoid the public.
“These people have a close relationship with the people and they carry different viruses from different parts of the country, which may create a new virus, so we recommend the lawmakers to cut off their relationship with the public for now,” Mesri said.
Iranian media reported on Tuesday that Pirhossein Koulivand, the head of the country’s emergency medical services, had come down with the new illness.
An activist group also said on Tuesday that Wikipedia’s Farsi-language website appeared to be disrupted in Iran after a close confidant to the supreme leader died of the coronavirus.
The advocacy group NetBlocks linked the death of Expediency Council member Mohammad Mirmohammadi to the disruption, though Iranian officials and its state media did not immediately acknowledge it. Authorities face increasing criticism from the Iranian public over the outbreak amid concerns the number of cases from the virus may be higher than currently reported.
NetBlocks described the disruption to accessing Farsi Wikipedia as being nationwide, saying its technical testing suggests the online encyclopaedia is being blocked by the same mechanism used to block Twitter and Facebook. Those social media websites have been banned since Iran’s disputed 2009 presidential election and Green Movement protests.
Council member close to Iran’s supreme leader dies from coronavirus
Some Iranians said they could not access Wikipedia’s Farsi website since Monday night. Others said they could, including through the site’s mobile-friendly pages.
“The new restrictions come as Iran faces a growing crisis following the loss of senior state figures to coronavirus and a spate of criticism and misinformation have spread through social media,” NetBlocks said in its analysis.
NetBlocks previously reported internet disruptions affecting Iran in recent days and users across the Islamic Republic have reported problems.
The disruption raises fears of Iran potentially shutting off the internet entirely again, as it did for a week during economic protests in November. Iran separately has created its own so-called “halal” net of government-approved websites.


Saudi Arabia on Tuesday barred citizens and residents of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries from entering the kingdom for 14 days after returning from outside the region due to coronavirus concerns, state news agency SPA reported.
Travellers coming from any fellow GCC state - the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar - must spend 14 continuous days there and show no signs of the coronavirus before being granted entry, SPA said, citing an interior ministry source.
Saudi Arabia and Jordan announced their first cases of the virus on Monday.
Iran stands alone in how the virus has affected its government, even compared to hard-hit China, the epicentre of the outbreak.
Mirmohammadi’s death makes him the highest-ranking official within Iran’s theocracy to be killed by the virus. The virus earlier killed Hadi Khosroshahi, Iran’s former ambassador to the Vatican, as well as a recently elected member of parliament.
Those sick include vice-president Masoumeh Ebtekar, better known as “Sister Mary,” the English-speaking spokeswoman for the students who seized the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and sparked the 444-day hostage crisis, state media reported. Also sick is Iraj Harirchi, the head of an Iranian government task force on the coronavirus who tried to play down the virus before falling ill.

On Tuesday, the Middle East’s largest airline, Emirates, said it had to reduce or ground flights due to the new virus. Because of the slowdown, the government-owned carrier has asked its employees to take paid and even unpaid leave for up to a month at a time. Emirates’ operates out of Dubai, the world’s busiest for international travel.
“We have been tested before and Emirates will come out stronger,” Chief Operating Officer Adel Al-Redha said.
The world’s largest airline trade association, IATA, said Mideast carriers have already lost around US$100 million in revenue due to a drop in ticket sales because of disruptions caused by the virus.


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Coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus: Iran to deploy armed forces to combat outbreak as death toll jumps to 77

A medic treats a patient infected with the coronavirus at a hospital in Tehran. Photo: AFP

epa08233748 A handout picture made available by Iran's Supreme Leader Office shows Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei arriving at a polling station to cast his vote in the parliamentary elections, in Tehran, Iran, 21 February 2020. Iranians headed to polls amid a worsening economic crisis and escalating tensions with the United States. EPA-EFE/IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER OFFICE HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Coronavirus: an increasingly isolated Iran tries to control crisis

An Iranian woman wears a face mask as she walks in northern Tehran on Wednesday. Photo: dpa

epa08249793 An Iranian bus driver wearing face mask drives past in a street of Tehran, Iran, 26 February 2020. According to the Ministry of Health, at least 139 people diagnosed with coronavirus in the country and nineteen people have died in Iran. The disease caused by the virus (SARS-CoV-2) has been officially named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO). EPA-EFE/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

Paramilitary soldiers wear face masks as they stand in front of a closed gate of Pakistan's border post, after Pakistan sealed its border with Iran as a preventive measure following the coronavirus outbreak, at the border post in Taftan, Pakistan February 25, 2020. REUTERS/Naseer Ahmed

Coronavirus: Iran council member close to supreme leader Khamenei dies of Covid-19

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cast his vote at a polling station last month. One of his advisers has died after falling ill from the new coronavirus. Photo: Reuters

A pedestrian, wearing a face mask, crosses a square in western Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. Iran is preparing for the possibility of "tens of thousands" of people getting tested for the new coronavirus as the number of confirmed cases spiked again Saturday, Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said, underscoring the fear both at home and abroad over the outbreak in the Islamic Republic. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 23, 2020 shows him on stage during a meeting in Tehran. (Photo by - / KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)

China charters flight for 200 citizens from Iran as infections total 2,336

Iran is dealing with the worst outbreak of coronavirus in the Middle East. Photo: Mizan News Agency via AP

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Authorities plan to mobilise 300,000 soldiers and volunteers to confront the epidemic
The head of the country’s emergency medical services is now ill with the coronavirus



Iran has the highest number of deaths from the coronavirus outside China.


Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

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Coronavirus: Iran to deploy armed forces to combat outbreak as death toll jumps to 77

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Authorities plan to mobilise 300,000 soldiers and volunteers to confront the epidemic The head of the country’s emergency medical services is now ill with the coronavirus

Authorities plan to mobilise 300,000 soldiers and volunteers to confront the epidemic

The head of the country’s emergency medical services is now ill with the coronavirus