TEHRAN: Iran’s president warned that his government was poised to introduce tough new measures against the coronavirus Wednesday as the death toll from one of the world’s deadliest outbreaks neared 2,000.
President Hassan Rouhani said that the new measures, which could be adopted as soon as Wednesday evening, included Iran’s first restrictions on movement to try to stem the spread of the virus and were likely to be “difficult” for the public.
So far, Iran has resisted imposing any lockdown, choosing instead to rely on verbal appeals for people to stay home.
But those have been widely ignored. Hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the roads as usual last weekend to spend the two-week Persian New Year holiday with family despite fears of the disease spreading from the big cities to the countryside.
“There has been a long debate within the National Committee for Fighting the Coronavirus about how to strengthen the measures we have taken,” Rouhani said in televised comments to the cabinet.
“We need to step up those measures,” he said, adding that the health ministry had “presented the committee with a plan” that could be “approved and published” during the day.
“It may create problems for people’s travel plans and require that people return home early,” the president said.
“It could stop the next wave of journeys. People have to realize that these are difficult decisions that are being taken to protect people’s lives.
“But we have no choice, because the lives of Iranians are important to us.”
Rouhani said the new measures would be adopted for 15 days and would be “implemented thoroughly until Saturday, April 4,” the day when children normally return to school after the holiday.
Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said Tuesday that a record 1,762 new coronavirus cases had been confirmed in Iran over the past 24 hours, taking the total so far to 24,811.
He announced 122 new deaths from the virus, raising the official toll to 1,934, the worst in the world after Italy, China and Spain.
Iran president warns of tough new measures against coronavirus
https://arab.news/pzchs
Iran president warns of tough new measures against coronavirus
- New measures may be adopted as soon as Wednesday evening
- Hundreds of thousands of Iranians ignored appeals to stay home during the Persian New Year holiday
Lebanese government imposes immediate ban on Hezbollah’s military activities
BERUIT: Lebanon's government said Hezbollah’s overnight attack against Israel were “illegal” and imposed an immediate ban on the group’s military activities, while also demanding its hand over its weapons.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said only the state could decide whether to go to war and called on the Lebanese military to prevent the firing of projectiles and detain anyone involved.
The move comes after Iran-backed Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel, provoking retaliatory Israeli strikes. The government convened for five hours and 15 minutes in an early morning meeting on Monday before reaching its decision.
The Lebanese cabinet meeting, chaired by President Joseph Aoun, started at 8am with ministers discussing the repercussions Hezbollah's launching of missiles from southern Lebanon into Israel and the Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
Sources initially told Arab News that ministers were “pushing for a decisive response to Hezbollah’s recklessness, regardless of the consequences.”
Lebanese MP Melhem Khalaf said the priority was to “shelter people that are evacuating their homes in relatively safe places. What happened at dawn on Monday has taken us from one stage to another, and we don't know where they've taken us.”
As US-Israeli attacks on Iran continued, Hezbollah said it fired missiles from Lebanon into Israel early Monday in response to the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and “repeated Israeli aggressions.”
There were no reports of injuries or damage, and Israel said it had intercepted one projectile, while several fell in open areas.
Israel retaliated with strikes on Lebanon, killing at least 31 people and wounding 149 others, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Around two thirds of the dead were in the south of the country.
Lebanon’s government said it was holding an emergency meeting after Hezbollah’s attack triggered the Israeli airstrikes.
Iran has been firing missiles at Israel and Arab states in a counter-offensive since the joint America-Israeli attack Saturday that killed Khamenei and other top Iranian officials. The war has quickly expanded to proxy forces, including Hezbollah firing out of Lebanon.
MP Bilal Abdullah told Arab News: “All the appeals issued by officials in Lebanon not to embroil us in this destructive war seem to have been in vain. We were supposed to protect Lebanon.
“Whoever launched the missiles and drones from Lebanon has slaughtered Lebanon. Displacing people is a major tragedy. We are in the winter season, and the cold is severe.”
