Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a Cabinet meeting, Tehran, March 11, 2020


UPDATE, 1845 GMT:

Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur raised the official death toll to 429 from 394.

He said there were 10,075 cases, compared to 9,000 on Wednesday.


Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have finally acknowledged that 1st Vice President Esh’aq Jahangiri and other senior officials, including Ministers and an aide to the Supreme Leader, have tested positive for Coronavirus.

Fars News Agency, the Guards outlet, published a list on Wednesday of those who are in isolation.

Last week reports circulated that Jahangiri, who had not been seen in public, was ill. But on Monday his head of public relations was denying the news, saying the Vice President was in his office and speaking to provincial governors by phone.

President Hassan Rouhani’s Cabinet did not confirm the Fars report.

Others on Fars list include Mohammad Javad Iravani of Ayatollah Khamanei’s office. A member of the Expediency Council, which advises the Supreme Leader, Iravani is in quarantine and his condition is improving, according to the site.

Another two ministers — Cultural Heritage and Tourism Minister Ali Asghar Mounesan and Industries, Mines, and Commerce Minister Reza Rahmani — have tested positive.

Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar announced last month that she had contracted the virus. Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi said he was ill, hours after promising his resignation if Iran’s death toll exceeded 12.

Among the 354 deaths officially confirmed by the Health Ministry are MPs Fatemeh Rahbar and Mohammad Ali Ramazani; Hossein Sheikholeslam, an advisor to Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif; Iran’s former Ambassador to the Vatican; and another member of the Expediency Council.

The Ministry raised the number of cases to 9,000 on Wednesday, including those of five MPs.

“All Powers to Coordinate”

Iran’s regime denied a problem with Coronavirus at the start of the outbreak last month, with the Supreme Leader calling it a “Western plot” and the Government refusing quarantines.

But Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani offered the latest sign on Wednesday of Iranian authorities on an emergency footing, with orders to limit travel between major Iranian cities and the Supreme Leader cancelling his New Year address on March 20.

Larijani said, “All capacities of the Government and other departments should be coordinated to help prevent the spread and to ensure the eradication of the disease.”

He called for more information to be given to the public to ensure travel restrictions are observed, and support for businesses affected by the crisis.

Revolutionary Guards spokesman Brig. Gen. Ramezan Sharif said that more than 100,000 Guards personnel and Basij paramilitary members have been mobilized to fight the virus.

Sharif said the military organization was qualified to lead the effort because of its experiences in the 1080-1988 Iran-Iraq War and its operations against “enemies” such as the US and its allies.