News Digest

March 23 Medicine: Iran’s Ministry of Health reported 23,049 cases of coronavirus, including 1,812 deaths. President Hassan Rouhani called on the United States to lift sanctions to help Iran fight the coronavirus outbreak. “American leaders are lying ... If they want to help Iran, all they need to…

March 16 Health: Iran’s Ministry of Health reported 14,991 cases of coronavirus, including 853 deaths—129 more than the previous day. It was the largest one-day increase in fatalities since the outbreak was first reported on February 19.  Ayatollah Hashem Bathayi Golpayegani, a senior cleric and…

March 9 Health: Iran’s Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur announced 7,161 cases of coronavirus, including 237 deaths. Chief of Iran’s Crisis Management Organization Esmail Najjar tested positive for the infection, according to a statement from the organization. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali…

March 2 Medicine: Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raisi announced 523 new coronavirus cases and 12 new deaths, a total of 1,501 cases and 66 fatalities since the outbreak was first reported on February 19. State media reported that Mohammad Mirmohammadi, a senior member of the Expediency Council,…

February 24 Medicine: Iran’s Health Ministry reported 61 cases of coronavirus and 12 deaths since the outbreak was first confirmed in the country on February 19. Cases were recorded in the provinces of Qom , Tehran, Gilan, Markazi, Isfahan, Mazandaran and Hamadan. The ministry said that the new…

February 18 Justice: Tehran released a German citizen who was sentenced to three years in prison for taking photographs of “sensitive places” in Iran. The move came two days after Ahmad Khalili, an Iranian national detained in Germany on charges of violating U.S. sanctions, was released by Berlin…

February 10 Economy: Iraqi officials said that the United States will grant sanctions waivers to allow Iraq to import gas and electricity from Iran. The previous waiver will expire on February 13. Iraq was heavily dependent on Iran to meet its domestic electricity demands, especially during the…

February 3 Military: Iran announced that it would launch a satellite into orbit within a week. “We are not afraid of failure and we will not lose hope. With your prayers and trust in God, the Zafar satellite by the end of this week ... will be heading toward an orbit of 530 km from Earth,” said…

January 27 Politics: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called for national unity ahead of February parliamentary elections. He urged high voter turnout and condemned the mass disqualification of reformist candidates by the Guardian Council, which was dominated by hardliners. “We should not let…

January 20 Nuclear: Iran said that it could withdraw from the global nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if its case is referred to the U.N. Security Council. “If the Europeans continue their improper behavior or send Iran’s file to the Security Council, we will withdraw from the NPT,” said…