Summary:
Iran reported 586 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, bringing the official total to 2,922. The official death toll increased by 15, to 92.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, 22 new cases have been confirmed since yesterday's update, bringing the total to 247. The largest number of...
Blog archive: All
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5th March 2020
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4th March 2020Iran reported 835 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, bringing the official (but disputed) total to 2,336. The official death toll increased by 11, to 77. Also on Tuesday, Iran's civil defence chief, Brigadier General Gholam Reza Jalali, made the extraordinary suggestion that his country has...
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3rd March 2020Iran reported a further huge increase in the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases on Monday. The official figure now stands at 1,501, with 66 deaths so far, though the official figures are disputed. On Tuesday, local media reported that 23 members of Iran's parliament are among those...
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2nd March 2020There's good news from Iran – at least, according to health ministry spokesperson Kianoush Jahanpour. On Sunday he announced that Iran has "been able to cure" more coronavirus patients than another other country apart from China. Meanwhile, Iran's health minister has written to Supreme Leader...
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1st March 2020Amid accusations that Iran is trying to conceal the full scale of its coronavirus epidemic, the health ministry revised its statistics upwards on Saturday. The official tally of COVID-19 cases is now 593 – an increase of 205 on Friday's figure. Iran's official death toll has also been revised from...
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29th February 2020Iran announced on Friday that the number of coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 388, with 34 deaths so far (among a population of more than 80 million). These official figures are widely disbelieved and it's likely the actual totals are much higher. One problem is that the number of...
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28th February 2020Thirteen new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the Middle East since Thursday's update – six in the UAE, two each in Oman and Kuwait, and one each in Iraq, Israel and Lebanon. The latest tally is below, and this may be updated in the light of developments during the course of the day....
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27th February 2020Twenty-five new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Arab countries since Wednesday's update – 17 in Kuwait, seven in Bahrain and one in Iraq. The latest tally of cases in the Middle East region is below, and this may be updated in the light of developments during the course of the day. Iran...
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26th February 2020Twenty-three new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Arab countries since yesterday's report, and Algeria is a newcomer to the list. Excluding Iran (where details are very confused), the latest tally of cases in the rest of the Middle East region is as follows: Algeria 1 (+1) Bahrain 26 (+...
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25th February 2020Coronavirus cases have now been reported in nine countries in the Middle East. The outbreak in Iran is clearly the most serious in the region, and it may be more extensive than the official figures suggest. Elsewhere in the region the number of cases is small and no deaths have been reported so...
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10th February 2020A 27-year-old Egyptian rights activist was detained on arrival at Cairo airport on Friday and now faces multiple charges: Publishing rumours and false news intended to disturb social peace and sow chaos. Incitement to protest without permission from the relevant authorities with the aim...
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6th February 2020The war in Yemen is complicated and it can be difficult to keep track of what's happening on the ground, not to mention the related peace efforts. A new report from the Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies is a useful starting point for anyone wanting a quick catch-up – well, relatively quick, since...
