UPDATE, 1545 GMT:
The Health Ministry has confirmed 1,076 new cases of Coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 5,823.
The death toll has risen from 124 to 145.
The Ministry said 1,669 people have recovered and been discharged from hospital.
Fatemeh Rahbar, a newly-elected member of Iran’s Parliament, is among the latest victims of Coronavirus.
Rahbar (pictured) died on Saturday in the intensive care unit of a Tehran hospital. She had been a conservative MP from 2004 to 2016 before regaining a seat in the February 21 elections.
Last week Mohammad Ali Ramazani, also elected last month, passed away. At least 23 MPs have contracted the virus.
Hossein Sheikholeslam, former Iran Ambassador to Syria and advisor to Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, died on Thursday. Iran’s former Ambassador to the Vatican died last week, and a member of the Expediency Council, which advises the Supreme Leader, passed away on Monday.
Among those testing positive are Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar, Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi, and the brother of the Supreme Leader’s daughter-in-law. Unconfirmed reports say 1st Vice President Esh’aq Jahangiri is also ill.
The Health Ministry reported 1,234 new cases of Coronavirus on Friday, bringing the total to 4,747.
The death toll has risen to 124, with 913 people declared to have recovered.
Travel Restrictions and Quarantines Imposed
In a sharp change from its initial approach, the regime is now imposing quarantines and travel restrictions in a belated attempt to check the spread of the virus.
The Iranian military, which had asserted its leading role in the past week, announced on Friday that it has set up a makeshift hospital in the holy city of Qom. Brig. Gen. Ali Jahanshahi, the deputy commander of the Iranian army’s ground forces, said armed forces are also helping with disinfection.
The outbreak began in Qom last month. On February 23 a local MP, Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani, claimed there were 50 deaths in the city and 250 people being treated. However, his claims were denied as the regime denied there was any crisis.
Instead, the Supreme Leader declared on the same day that Coronavirus was a “Western plot” to discourage turnout in the Parliamentary elections two days earlier.
In the past week, that line has shifted. Ayatollah Khamenei announced that the spread of the virus is a “sin”, and the Government reversed its opposition to quarantines. Friday Prayers have been cancelled, and football matches postponed.
On Thursday authorities began putting up checkpoints to monitor and limit travel between major cities.
Mohsen Orouji, the director-general for Qom’s Crisis Management Office, said, “People will be monitored at all the exit points of the city, and they will be quarantined in case they have suspicious symptoms.”
But amid the belated efforts to deal with the virus, the regime is continuing to claim that the outbreak is an enemy conspiracy. On Thursday, Revolutionary Guards commander Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami said, “We will win the battle against this virus which might be the result of a biological offensive that has first reached China and Iran and other regions.”
Iran Daily, March 6: Revolutionary Guards — Coronavirus May Be “Western Biological Warfare”
Hozeh News, the news agency of the Qom Seminary, reinforced the conspiracy theory, “How can a flu-like virus kill people so easily? The virus is being controlled by the enemy.”
And Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, a member of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, proclaimed a “bioterrorist act on Iran and China” through Coronavirus.
