March 2, 2020
By Nassar Karimi and Jon Gambrell
Tehran - A member of a council (click here) that advises Iran’s supreme leader died Monday after falling sick from the new coronavirus, state radio reported, becoming the first top official to succumb to the illness that is affecting members of the Islamic Republic’s leadership.
Expediency Council member Mohammad Mirmohammadi died at a Tehran hospital of the virus, state radio said. He was 71.
The council advises Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as settles disputes between the supreme leader and parliament.
His death comes as other top officials have contracted the virus in Iran, which has the highest death toll in the world after China, the epicenter of the outbreak....
The Arab League (click here)
The region does not need a rise in power of Daesh with Iranian leadership weakened by illness. The Third World is going to be hit hard by this virus. There needs to be attention to the potential of devastated leadership. When the people of a Third World country begin to become ill and/or die, they will lose confidence in any leadership that have not controlled the disease.
Russia has suspended flights with Iran in some instances, but, it will continue to seek a foothold in the region. Russia knows opportunity when it sees it. Russia is at war with Turkey so this is the opportunity it wants to take the region and oppose NATO. Putin is the new default setting for the region.
March 1, 2020
By Vusala Abbasova
A Russian deputy foreign minister (click here) has said that neither coronavirus outbreak nor preventative measures taken by Russia could possibly influence the implementation of joint projects with Iran.
“That is not a restriction on cooperation with Iran, but simply a solution related to an extraordinary, emergency situation caused by a COVID-19 infection, nothing more,” Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with TASS. “It will be overcome soon.”
After the outbreak of a novel virus, which causes the illness recently named COVID-19, in Iran, Russian authorities have stepped up efforts to contain the virus spreading by suspending some flights to and from Iran, except those operated by its national carrier Aeroflot and Iranian airline Mahan Air. In addition, Moscow stopped issuing visas to Iranian citizens for regular and transit travel from February 28.
An epidemic of the mysterious deadly coronavirus, which originated in China, has rapidly spread throughout the world, with Iran confirming new cases. As of Saturday, Iran reported 205 new cases, raising total number of infections there to 593, while the death toll as a result of the virus outbreak has also been raised to 43....
