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Coronavirus: Rouhani urges Iranians not to panic over outbreak Coronavirus: Iran's deputy health minister tests positive as outbreak worsens
(about 2 hours later)
Iran's president has urged people not to panic as it struggles to contain an outbreak of the new coronavirus disease. Iran's deputy health minister has tested positive for the new coronavirus disease, as it struggles to contain an outbreak that has killed 15 people.
Hassan Rouhani expressed confidence that the country would overcome the crisis, which has left at least 16 dead. A health ministry spokesman confirmed that Iraj Harirchi was infected with Covid-19 and under quarantine.
Iran has reported 95 confirmed Covid-19 cases since last week, but the actual number is thought to be far higher. President Hassan Rouhani meanwhile urged Iranians not to panic, saying: "We will get through the virus."
The World Health Organization has said the sudden rise is "deeply concerning". Officials have reported 95 confirmed cases since last week, but the actual number is thought to be far higher.
A technical team from the UN agency was due to fly to Iran on Tuesday, but its departure has reportedly delayed. The World Health Organization has said the sudden increase in cases in the country is "deeply concerning".
The WHO has said it is also sending medical supplies and additional testing kits to Iran that should arrive in the next day or two. The regional director of the UN agency was due to fly to Iran on Tuesday, but his departure was delayed.
President Rouhani has urged people to comply with the health ministry's directives. A WHO spokeswoman said it was finalising the dates of a separate visit to Iran by a technical mission and was also sending medical supplies and additional testing kits that should arrive in the next day or two.
There have been more than 80,000 reported cases of Covid-19 worldwide and 2,700 related deaths since the disease emerged late last year. The vast majority have been in China.There have been more than 80,000 reported cases of Covid-19 worldwide and 2,700 related deaths since the disease emerged late last year. The vast majority have been in China.
Conflict between religion and science
By Rana Rahimpour, BBC Persian
The reports that we are receiving from cities around Iran suggest that the numbers of cases is actually much higher than the Iranian authorities are giving.
Unlike in Italy, Iranian officials are refusing to impose quarantines in areas affected by the outbreak. They say quarantines are old-fashioned and that they do not believe in them.
The Shia shrines in the cities of Qom and Mashhad are still open, despite Qom being a hotbed of the virus.
There are grand ayatollahs in Qom who believe that its shrine, which attracts millions of pilgrims from around the world, and its important seminary, which hosts many foreign religious students, are the pride of the Shia world.
Shutting them down would be a huge step for the clerics and not one that they would be likely take unless they come under international pressure.
We can see the clear conflict between religious fundamentalism and science.
Iran also lacks the medical equipment it needs to help contain the outbreak. It has run out of masks and does not have enough testing kits.
A number of medical workers have also been infected, so there is a worry that they will soon run out of doctors and nurses to attend to those with the disease.
The majority of Iranians are extremely worried.
Mr Harirchi's positive test for Covid-19 was announced a day after he took part in a televised news conference, during which he coughed and appeared to be sweating.
At the briefing he denied a claim by a member of parliament for Qom, the city at the centre of Iran's outbreak, that the authorities were engaged in a cover-up.
Ahmad Amirabadi-Farahani alleged that Covid-19 had arrived in Qom three weeks ago and that there had been 50 deaths in the city alone.
The death toll was rejected by Mr Harirchi, who vowed to resign if it could be proven that even half that number had died.
Mr Amirabadi-Farahani subsequently refused to retract his claim, saying he had sent a list of 40 people who had died to the minister and awaited his resignation.
More on the coronavirus outbreakMore on the coronavirus outbreak
On Monday, Iranian Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi denied that the authorities were lying about the scale of the outbreak. The secretary of the Supreme National Security Council said on Tuesday that he had asked the prosecutor-general to "check the validity" of the MP's allegation.
A member of parliament for Qom, the city at the centre of Iran's Covid-19 outbreak, claimed that there had been 50 deaths there alone. "Both spreading fake news and hiding the truth disrupt national security and damage social capital," Ali Shamkhani warned.
That was rejected by Mr Harirchi, who vowed to resign if it could be proven that even half that number had died. The authorities have so far refused to quarantine Qom, which is visited by millions of Shia Muslim pilgrims and tourists every year because it is the location of the shrine of Hazrat Masumeh, a revered female saint who was the sister of the eighth Shia Imam.
But the MP, Ahmad Amirabadi-Farahani, refused to retract his claim, saying he had sent a list of 40 people who had died as a result of Covid-19 to the minister. The city is also home to many of Iran's most senior Shia clerics, and tens of thousands of theology students come from across the world to attend its seminary.
The authorities have so far refused to quarantine Qom, which is a major destination for Shia Muslim pilgrims and a centre of Shia learning.
Iran is also believed to have been the source of the first cases reported by neighbouring Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait and Oman, which have now imposed restrictions on travel to and from the Islamic Republic.Iran is also believed to have been the source of the first cases reported by neighbouring Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait and Oman, which have now imposed restrictions on travel to and from the Islamic Republic.
The United Arab Emirates, a major international transit hub, suspended all passenger and cargo flights to Iran for a week as a precaution on Tuesday. It has reported 13 cases, including an Iranian couple. The United Arab Emirates - a major international transit hub, and home to the airlines Emirates and Etihad - suspended all passenger and cargo flights to Iran for at least a week "as a precautionary measure" on Tuesday. It has already reported 13 cases, including an Iranian couple.