UPDATE, 1555 GMT:
Iran’s official death toll has risen to 3,993, an increase of 121 in the past 24 hours.
The Health Ministry reports 64,586 confirmed cases, with 3,956 in critical condition.
Iran’s Parliament has rejected an emergency bill for a one-month national lockdown, as the death toll from Coronavirus nears 4,000.
In its first meeting of the Iranian year that began March 20, legislators rejected the measure, backed by 80 of the chamber’s 290 MPs, because “undermines the Constitution”.
The vote was held amidst tension over the ongoing spread of the virus, with 62,589 confirmed cases.
Health Minister Saeed Namaki, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, and Vice President Mohammad Baqer Nobakht were rebuked by Deputy Speaker Massoud Pezeshkian for “not taking the outbreak seriously”, after the ministers arrived an hour late.
Speaker Ali Larijani is in self-isolation after testing positive for the virus.
Pezeshkian, a medical doctor, has criticized the Government on several occasions for not dealing quickly enough with Coronavirus.
But the Majlis upheld President Hassan Rouhani’s resistance, since the start of the crisis, to lockdowns. Rouhani said, days after the first confirmed cases, that “foreign conspiracies” were trying to undermine the Islamic Republic thrpugh restrictions on the economy.
Amid long-term internal problems and US sanctions, Iran is facing serous problems with production, investment, trade, employment, and currency. Oil exports have fallen between 80% and 95% since April 2018, crippling the Government budget.
Rouhani and Ministers have tried to balance between the threat of the virus and maintaining economic activity.
The Government has implemented social distancing measures, including the closures of schools and suspension of Friday Prayers and other public events. But Iranians have reportedly defied attempts to prevent them from travelling between cities, with traffic reportedly heavy in the capital Tehran.
The President said in late March that a “major part” of the economy must be shut down, but revised his line on Saturday to declare “low-risk” activity will resume from this Saturday. Reopened businesses will include printing houses, clothes stores, and bookshops.
The Government has declared that $24 billion, 20% of its budget, will be allocated to fight Coronavirus; however, it is facing problems with revenue because of reduced oil sales, a falling global oil price, and the effects of the virus.
On Monday, after 11 days, the Supreme Leader finally approved the allocation of more than $1 billion from the National Development Funds. Rouhani said the money will be used for purchase of medical supplies and equipment, and for Unemployment Insurance.
