Iran’s Supreme Leader receives a second dose of a domestically-produced Coronavirus vaccine, Tehran, July 23, 2021

UPDATE, 1300 GMT:

Another sign of the spiralling death toll from the “5th wave” of the Coronavirus pandemic — Fars, the outlet of the Revolutionary Guards, reports the busiest day in the 51-year history of Iran’s largest cemetery.

On Friday, 390 people were buried in the Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in Tehran. Of the burials, 216 were for victims of Coronavirus.

The Health Ministry reported 527 deaths yesterday. The 7-day average of daily fatalities is 522, compared to 120 on June 25.

Iran’s official toll is 96,742 deaths, but medics, residents, and activists say the actual figure is far higher.

UPDATE, AUG 14:

In-fighting continues over the deadly ban, ordered by the Supreme Leader in January, on Coronavirus vaccines made in the US and the UK.

The chairman of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce said that in April, private companies arranged to import 6 million doses from Europe, “but for reasons not yet known to us, the Health Ministry prevented it”.

Kianush Jahanpour, the spokesman of the Food and Medicines Agency, rejected Masoud Khansari’s account, demanding the names of the companies.

A video has gone viral of a woman mourning her husband and blaming the Supreme Leader for his death.

At the meeting of the National Coronavirus Task Force on Friday, President Ebrahim Raisi said Iran will allocate foreign currency reserves to obtain at least 30 million doses.

The Food and Medicines Agency’s Jahanpour claimed Iran has enough doses for another 15 days. But on Wednesday, Task Force head Alireza Zali said only five days of vaccines remained.

UPDATE, 0845 GMT:

Citing medical authorities such as heads of hospitals, the semi-official Tasnim News Agency summarizes that all Iranian provinces “are in crisis…because the situation in the country is getting worse by the minute”.

The outlet adds, “Doctors and health defenders have been warning for a long time that if the observance of health protocols is not taken seriously, a catastrophe is on the way.” It criticizes “crowded parties, family gatherings, crowded restaurants, late-night markets, summer trips, and, worst of all, a lack of community-based health protocols”.

Hospitals are filled to capacity, with medical staff exhausted.

The streets, the shops, the offices, the banks, the clubs, the wedding gardens, the mosques, and so on are all active in their routine, and even more than usual, as if there is no news of disease and nothing has happened.

The silence of the officials is so deep that it is as if hearing the news of the daily death of more than 500 of our dear people is part of the daily news that no longer causes any sensitivity in them.

The Health Ministry reported another 568 deaths and 39,049 cases on Thursday.

UPDATE, AUG 13:

The spokesperson for Iran’s Food and Medicine Organization has confirmed the lifting of the ban on vaccines made in the US or UK.

Kianoush Jahanpour said there are no longer any restrictions on Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which will be imported where possible.

Jahanpour claimed Iran will import more than 61 million doses before September 21, and will have access to 120 million doses of imported and domestic vaccines within three months.

Iran has administered only 16.8 million doses since the first inoculation in early February. Just 3.8% of the population is fully vaccinated.

UPDATE, 0755 GMT:

The Supreme Leader has formally lifted his January ban on Coronavirus vaccines made in the US and UK.

Ayatollah Khamenei had quietly stepped back from the ban, as Iran struggled to roll out vaccination amid
waves of the pandemic in the spring and summer. However, he made no announcement even as the international consortium Covax made deliveries which included the Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines.

Khamenei covered up his shift with a falsehood: rather than acknowledging his ban, he declared that vaccine manufacturers had blocked supplies to Iran: “Fortunately, the production of vaccines within the country paved the way for the import of foreign shots as well. Whereas prior to that, foreign suppliers would renege on their promises despite having received the payments.”

Former MP Ali Akbar Mousavi-Khoeini explained to the Center for Human Rights in Iran:

Because of the continuing ban imposed by Iran’s leader on the importation of vaccines produced by the US and the UK, the entry of Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson, and AstraZeneca vaccines into Iran have been dangerously hampered.

When we contacted the authorities at the WHO [World Health Organization] in charge of COVAX distribution, we were told that as of last week Iran refused to accept US-made vaccines as a donation or to purchase them for a fair price, including an offer for the Moderna vaccine. The only purchase Iran made was for China’s Sinopharm vaccine.

Khamenei’s announcement on State TV came as the Health Ministry reported another record for daily Coronavirus cases — the fifth set within the past 10 days.

The Ministry announced 42,541 cases. There were 536 deaths, raising Iran’s official total to 95,647.

UPDATE, AUG 12:

A video report from Iran’s second city Mashhad about the severity of the “5th wave” of the Coronavirus pandemic:

New President Ebrahim Raisi has called for observance of health protocols during the holy month of Muharram, but many Iranians appear to be ignoring him. Videos show crowds with no social distancing, and there is little enforcement of travel restrictions in areas such as Mashhad. The Governor of Mashhad Province says 32% of those hospitalized for Covid-19 are travellers, and is warning of a shortage of caskets and ambulances.

ORIGINAL ENTRY, AUG 11: Amid the record-setting “5th wave” of the Coronavirus pandemic, the head of Iran’s medical board has denounced January’s ban on vaccines made in the US and UK.

The Supreme Leader issued the ban on vaccines such as Pfizer/BioNTech, from US and German companies, and the UK’s Oxford-AstraZeneca.

Ayatollah Khamenei quietly stepped back from the ban this spring, with Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca among vaccines in deliveries by the international Covax program. More than six months after the first inoculation, just 12.4 million doses have been administered in a country of almost 85 million people. Only 3.3% of the population is fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, Iran has endured two more waves of the deadly pandemic. On Monday, 588 deaths and 40,808 cases — both daily records — were announced.

See also Iran Sets Record for Daily Coronavirus Deaths

Mohammadreza Zafarghandi, the head of Iran’s Medical Council, asked on Sunday if doctors who wrote an open letter in January supporting the Supreme Leader’s ban would now bear responsibility for the consequences.

“Mortality has dropped dramatically in countries that vaccinated without restrictions”, Zafarghandi tweeted.

He avoided any mention of Ayatollah Khamenei.

The letter was published in Iranian media after the Supreme Leader’s order. Among the 180 signatories were the Supreme Leader’s personal physician Alireza Marandi and Alireza Zakani, the conservative politician installed as Tehran Mayor this week.

Twitter subsequently removed an English-language disinformation tweet from the Supreme Leader’s office.

The Supreme Leader continues to promote Iran’s domestically-made Barakat vaccine, with State TV broadcasting his receipt of two doses in June and July.