While addressing the Coronavirus task force on Saturday, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, citing an unpublished Health Ministry report, said that as many as 25 million Iranians may have been infected with COVID-19, and 14,000 may have died.
On Saturday, Iran’s official figure of Covid-19 infections stood roughly at 2,69,440.
However, the figures cited by Rouhani significantly differed from the official statistics the country had been sharing with the public so far.
The Iranian President warned that millions of people are at risk of contracting the virus in the coming months.
“There is the possibility that 30 to 35 million more people will be at risk,” Rouhani said.
The first set of confirmed cases of Coronavirus surfaced on Feb 19 from Iran’s city of Qom. On the same day, the government addressed the public and reported two Covid-19 related deaths. By March and April, the disease had spread to almost all the major provinces of the country.
Iran, with a population of roughly 83 million, has been the worst affected West Asian country fighting the pandemic.
In June, upon noticing a significant drop in the cases, the authorities decided to ease restrictions and revive economic activity given that the country is presently facing one of the most damaging economic sanctions in recent history at the hands of United States of America.
Around two years ago, US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a multilateral platform which aimed at limiting Iran’s nuclear programme.
In its stead, Trump embarked on a “maximum pressure” strategy against Iran and imposed crippling economic restrictions that significantly limit Iran’s ability to trade with other nations.
The sanctions imposed on Iran, choked its oil exports and practically pushed the country out from the international financial system. The economic turmoil has left the country with little foreign currency to purchase imports, including the bare minimal medical supplies and necessities.
With the result, the economic crisis has made it practically impossible for the country to take the required medical, economic and social measures to effectively address the coronavirus crisis.
The virus has reportedly staged a more forceful comeback in July. In mid-June, deaths went above 100, for the first time in two months.
Since then, this figure has been going up, reaching 221 deaths by July 9.
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