Iran

TEHRAN, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Iran will start constructing a 6,000-ton destroyer, Amir Rastegari, head of Defense Ministry's Marine Industries Organization, was quoted as saying by semi-official Mehr news agency on Saturday.

"This destroyer will extend the capabilities of Iranian Navy for longer operations in the seas with very special defensive and offensive capabilities," Rastegari said.

The ship can "conduct operations for at least two months without docking for supplies," he said.

TEHRAN, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. "cruel and illegal" sanctions against Iran have caused difficulties for ordinary Iranians' access to medicine and medical equipment and services amid the COVID-19 spread, Esmaeil Baqaei Hamaneh, Iran's envoy to the UN office in Geneva, said on Friday.

"The sanctions have blocked Iran's banking interaction with other countries in the purchase of commodities required in the fight against the coronavirus," Baqaei Hamaneh said in a letter to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, state TV reported.

TEHRAN, April 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Iran’s official death toll from the coronavirus disease has passed 3,000.

Health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpour reported 138 fatalities in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 3,036. The number of confirmed cases also rose by 2,987 to 47,593, he added.

There are concerns that the actual figures are much higher.

Jahanpour also said Iranians had mostly heeded a request not to leave their homes for a traditional picnic on the last day of the Nowruz holiday.

TEHRAN, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Iran will respond severely if the United States does anything to undermine security of Iran, Chief of Staff of Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Baqeri said on Thursday.

"If (the U.S.) takes the smallest step against the security of our country, they will be faced with the most severe reaction," Baqeri was quoted as saying by Press TV.

Over the recent days, the U.S. military activities across Iraq and the Gulf have increased, he said.

TEHRAN, Apr 2 (NNN-IRNA) – The Iranians, on Wednesday, cancelled Nature Day celebrations, after the authorities advised people to avoid public gatherings over the COVID-19 spread.

People celebrate the 13th day of the Iranian New Year, officially called Nature Day, which falls on the first day of Apr this year.

On Wednesday, the parks and green lodges across the country were closed and the roads leading to these places were quiet.

30 Mar 2020; MEMO: Iran is to allocate 20% of its annual state budget to fighting the coronavirus outbreak in the country, one of the worst-hit in the world, President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday, as reported by Reuters.

Iran’s death toll from coronavirus rose to 2,517 on Saturday, with 139 fatalities in the past 24 hours, as cases rose 3,076 to 35,408, Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on state television.

In comments broadcast on state TV, Rouhani said:

TEHRAN, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Sunday called on Saudi Arabia to contribute more to a fight against the locust plague that threatens crops and food security in the region, Press TV reported.

Red Sea countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, should help Iran collectively fight locust swarms this year that could affect thousands of hectares of more agricultural lands, Mohammad Reza Dargahi, head of Iran's Plant Protection Organization, was quoted as saying.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Prisoners in southern Iran broke cameras and caused other damage during a riot, state media reported Monday, the latest in a series of violent prison disturbances in the country, which is battling the most severe coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East.

Iran had temporarily released around 100,000 prisoners as part of measures taken to contain the pandemic, leaving an estimated 50,000 people behind bars, including violent offenders and so-called “security cases,” often dual nationals and others with Western ties.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s president on Sunday lashed out at criticism of authorities’ lagging response to the worst coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East, saying the government has to weigh economic concerns as it takes measures to contain the pandemic.

Syria meanwhile reported the first fatality from the virus in the war-torn country, which has five confirmed infections. State news agency SANA said a woman died upon reaching an emergency room and tested positive for the virus, without saying where it happened.

29 Mar 2020; MEMO: Iran announced on Saturday that it would cover 90% of the health care expenses of each of its citizens diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, Anadolu reports.

Speaking at the country’s coronavirus prevention center in the capital Tehran, President Hassan Rouhani said the government had fortified the country’s health care system over the past six years, IRNA news agency reported.