TEHRAN: More than 180,000 people have been infected in Iran’s coronavirus outbreak since it first emerged nearly four months ago, an official said on Thursday.
As the figures were announced, President Hassan Rouhani called on Iranians to stick to guidelines aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19.
“If everyone follows the health instructions exactly, then all jobs can be reopened,” he said in remarks broadcast on state television.
“We are progressing slowly and step by step (because we don’t want) our people to think that the coronavirus era has passed.
“This would pose a major health problem for us,” Rouhani said.
Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said 2,238 new infections in the past 24 hours took the total to 180,156.
She said 78 new deaths brought the overall toll to 8,584.
Iran reported its first COVID-19 cases on Feb. 19 — two deaths in the city of Qom.
The government has struggled to contain what quickly became the Middle East’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak. Since April, however, it has gradually lifted health protocols in order to reopen its sanctions-hit economy.
That has coincided with a fresh surge in cases, which the government denies amounts to a second wave, saying they are due to increased testing.
Meanwhile, Iran insists it is ready to resolve any issues with the UN nuclear watchdog, expressing “disappointment” in a note circulated over the IAEA’s latest report complaining of blocked access.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a report that Iran has for months blocked inspections at two sites where nuclear activity may have occurred in the past.
The Vienna-based agency noted “with serious concern that, for over four months, Iran has denied access to the agency ... to two locations.”
In a note to the IAEA dated June 8, Iran said it had held meetings with agency representatives in Tehran on April 29 and May 16 to discuss the access issues, followed by written correspondence and a fresh proposal to meet with IAEA representatives.
In the note circulated by Tehran’s mission to the UN in Vienna on Thursday, Iran insisted it “continued its constructive engagement with the agency during the past two months, with a view to reach a common understanding ... which would pave the way for the resolution of concerned issues.”
Iran argues that the requests for access are based on “fabricated information,” accusing the US and Israel of trying to “exert pressure on the agency.”
The IAEA has said previously that its access requests were based on “concrete information” that had been validated.
In its note, Iran expressed “deep regret and disappointment” at the IAEA’s latest report.
The report is expected to be discussed at a meeting of the agency’s board of governors starting next Monday.
In a separate report, also to be discussed during the board meeting, the IAEA warned that Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile is now almost eight times the limit set in the nuclear deal the country signed with world powers in 2015.
Iran has been progressively breaking restrictions laid down in the 2015 deal in retaliation for US withdrawal from the accord in 2018 and its subsequent re-imposition of sanctions.
