{"id":7670,"date":"2020-02-27T15:35:17","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T12:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/?p=7670"},"modified":"2021-06-01T13:09:38","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T10:09:38","slug":"the-spread-of-the-coronavirus-in-iran-due-to-political-negligence-the-lowest-voter-turnout-rate-in-the-islamic-republics-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/monitoring-and-translation\/iran-in-a-week\/the-spread-of-the-coronavirus-in-iran-due-to-political-negligence-the-lowest-voter-turnout-rate-in-the-islamic-republics-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"The Spread of the Coronavirus in Iran due to Political Negligence; The Lowest Voter Turnout Rate in the Islamic Republic\u2019s Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Coronavirus\nSpread so Rapidly Because Priority is Given to Politics Over Everything Else!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The editorial of Mostaghel explains how the spread of the\ncoronavirus in Iran represents a political failure.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, official media outlets admitted the existence and\nspread of the coronavirus in the country. The mortality rate for the virus is\naround 2 percent, so it can be concluded that the number of people infected in\nthe country is 50 times more than the death toll. On the other hand, this\ndisease has an incubation period of two weeks, which means the virus has not\nentered the country recently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the basic question is: has the coronavirus spread to our\nneighboring countries and the Middle East? A search on the internet about the\nregions and countries where the coronavirus has spread shows that Iran is the\nfirst country in the Middle East where this disease has been detected and\nkilled a number of Iranians. A number of neighboring countries like Turkey,\nIraq and Kuwait have closed their borders with Iran and stopped their airlines\nflying to Iran. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how come Iran has become the gateway of the coronavirus to the Middle East?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the spread of the coronavirus in China, many countries\nstopped their flights to this country and many Chinese citizens who were\nholidaying in other countries because of the Chinese New Year had difficulties\nin returning to their country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the nick of the time, Iran\u2019s officials rushed to help the\nChinese government, perhaps to get closer to China, hoping for this country\u2019s\nhelp and support in countering and circumventing America\u2019s sanctions, as well\nas increasing the chance of China vetoing the UN Security Council\u2019s resolution\nif Iran\u2019s case is referred to it. So Iran started to transfer Chinese\npassengers and sent 2 million masks to China as a gift from Mahan Airlines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as all citizens are responsible for protecting their\nhealth and lives and must take measures when health concerns arise, likewise\nstatesmen and officials are responsible to take any preventive measures to\nsafeguard public health. But politics has cast its heavy shadow over all issues\nin Iran; as a result, Iran has become the second victim of the coronavirus after\nChina \u2013 while it is not a neighbor of this country, nor does it have any\ncultural similarities with China such as eating snakes and bats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mostaghel<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Increase in the Risk\nand Cost of Trade With the World<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The editorial of Jahan Sanat \u2013 penned by the deputy of Tehran\u2019s\ncommission of money and investment market \u2013 goes over the increasing costs and\nrisks of trade with Iran, after being blacklisted by the Financial Action Task\nForce (FATF). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being blacklisted by the FATF will\novershadow Iran\u2019s trade with the world. Today, interaction with the world\nrequires implementing global regulations including the FATF.  However, after being blacklisted, Iran is\nfacing self-imposed sanctions as a result of which it will be classified as a high-risk\ncountry lacking transparency \u2013 and even suspected of money laundering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As such, foreign pressures against Iran will rise, putting\nconsiderable restrictions on financial transactions. Even if the international\nsanctions against Iran have created difficulties for conducting financial transactions,\nbeing blacklisted by the FATF will further increase pressures on Iran in this\nregard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, from now on, the cost of financial\ntransactions that take place through illegal channels will multiply and trade risks\nwill increase. In fact, with the FATF blacklisting Iran, not only will foreign\ncompanies not show interest in economic transactions with Iran, but countries\nlike China and Russia that are members of the FATF will face more difficulty in\nsupporting Iran. As a result, all these issues will increase the cost of trade\nfor businessmen and increase the cost of consumer goods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In general, Iran not complying with global regulations will\ndeny it access to global resources and economic actors will face greater costs\nand restrictions when undertaking financial transactions. This can hurt\nnational production and increase livelihood costs for the Iranian people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being blacklisted by the FATF will intensify sanctions on\nIran and will augment foreign pressures on the country. Under the current\ncircumstances, Iran must try to act in accordance with international\nregulations to sustain and even develop its trade with countries of the world.\nBut with the FATF\u2019s decision, even commercial trade with friendly and\nneighboring countries will become more costly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, we can say that there is no bright future for\nIran\u2019s foreign trade and economy, and the costs and risks of trade with the\nworld will go up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jahan Sanat<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isolating Iran<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The editorial of Jahan Sanat deals with the repercussions of\nIran getting blacklisted by the FATF. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran\u2019s return to the FATF\u2019s blacklist can be viewed from two\nperspectives. First, under the current circumstances and due to US sanctions,\nratifying the Palermo Convention and CFT (Combating the Financing of Terrorism)\nmeant disclosing Iranian financial and banking channels to the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As such, Iran\u2019s return to the FATF\u2019s blacklist has a clear\nmessage for Iran\u2019s economy. From now on, Iran\u2019s financial transactions with\nother countries will become tougher and there will be setbacks for money\ntransfers. In other words, other countries will be more careful and cautious in\ntheir banking and financial transactions with Iran. Also, this can create\nchallenges for Iranians in opening bank accounts in other countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second important issue is that Iran\u2019s banking relations\nwith the world were not at an acceptable level during the past two years. This\nmeans that even before Iran was blacklisted by the FATF, many countries avoided\nengaging in financial and banking transactions with Iran. This is why the major\npart of Iran\u2019s financial transactions with the world is done through currency\nservices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously, the costs of doing business with Iran will go up\nfor other countries. The blacklisting of Iran by the FATF will increase the\nrisk of money laundering and terrorist financing. Other countries continuing\ntheir financial dealings with Iran means more costs for the Iranian government.\nAccordingly, the cost of financial transactions for Iran will increase by 10 percent\nto 15 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One can reason that Iranian decision makers have decided\nthat returning to the FATF\u2019s blacklist is better than joining it and disclosing\nIran\u2019s financial transaction channels to the world. Nevertheless, not joining the\nFATF will create problems \u2013 such as Iranian bank accounts being frozen and\ndifficulties in transferring money \u2013 that cannot be easily overcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jahan Sanat<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is There no Competition\nin the 11th Parliamentary Elections?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The editorial of Setareh Sobh written by the former \u201creformist\u201d lawmaker Hossein Ansarirad explains why there is no competition in the 11th parliamentary elections. There was a large-scale disqualification of \u201creformist\u201d candidates by the Guardian Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 11th parliamentary elections in Iran is like a one-sided football match with no serious competition. That is because 95 percent of the \u201creformist\u201d candidates were disqualified by the Guardian Council. So competition is mostly within one faction, rather than between two factions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201creformists\u201d were disqualified despite the fact that they were all children of the revolution, had taken part in the war between Iran and Iraq, and were sympathetic to the Islamic Republic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These disqualifications were groundless. If anyone has\ncommitted a crime, he or she must be disqualified, but not based on unproven\naccusations and contradictory reports. In the seventh parliamentary elections,\n3,500 candidates were \u2013 the majority of them unfairly \u2013 disqualified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The election is not competitive which is why people \u2013\nparticularly the middle class and intellectuals \u2013 will decide not to vote. The\nmiddle class and political activists will not participate in the elections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hardline \u201cprinciplists\u201d will have a majority in the next Parliament. There is not much difference between the radical and moderate \u201cprinciplists\u201d, because their general policies are the same and they think alike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main difference is between the \u201creformists\u201d and \u201cprinciplists\u201d in domestic and foreign policies. In foreign policy, the \u201creformists\u201d are after peace and developing peaceful relations with neighboring countries. As for domestic policy, they are in favor of free elections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the \u201cprinciplists\u201d who are in favor of radical policies have put Iran against other countries, particularly America. Even though America is currently an enemy of Iran, but with the right policies, this enmity can be reduced, and US sanctions can be eased. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201creformists\u201d believe in the country\u2019s establishment and security, as well as in its national interests. Iran must move in the direction of interaction and peace with the world, as well as gaining the trust of the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setareh Sobh<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Lowest Voter Turnout\nRate in the Islamic Republic\u2019s Elections <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Iranian interior minister announced that the\nparticipation in the 11th parliamentary elections was 42.5 percent throughout\nIran and 25 percent in Tehran, mentioning that issues like the coronavirus, the\nNovember protests, and the Ukrainian plane downed by the IRGC have resulted in\na low voter turnout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Interior Minister Abdulreza Rahmani Fazli,\n24,512,404 people voted in this election. He added that 57,918,159 people were\nqualified to vote, of which 42.57 percent took part in the elections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has been the lowest voter turnout in elections during\nthe past 41 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rahmani Fazli also said the rate of participation in Tehran\nwas 25.4 percent (1,841,000), which is about 50 percent less than the\nparticipation in the 10th parliamentary elections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the Transition Council of Iran, a political  opposition group against the Islamic Republic,\nissued a statement regarding the 11th parliamentary elections, saying that the\noutcomes and reports show the total failure of the Islamic government and the\nresolve of the people to go beyond this political system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statement said: The Iranian people boycotted the\nelections, turning it into a referendum on the Islamic Republic and they said\nno to it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Transition Council, more than 80 percent of\nthe Iranian people said no to the Islamic Republic completely, while the\nIslamic government \u2013 with all its propaganda, threats, and promises \u2013 could\nonly mobilize 19.7 percent of registered voters from across Iran and only 12.65\npercent in Greater Tehran to the ballot boxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Transition Council of Iran says it has obtained the\nstatistics from its sources in Iran\u2019s interior ministry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Radio Farda <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peyk Iran<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it Time for Iran\nto say Goodbye to Iraq\u2019s Market? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Iraq has blocked the Mehran border with Iran and doesn\u2019t\nallow Iranian trucks to enter the country\u2019s territory. Roughly 1,000 trucks are\nwaiting behind the border. Even though Iranian officials express hope for the\nborder reopening, Iraq is about to suspend and revoke gas contracts with Iran.\nDoes this mean that Iran\u2019s economic relationship with its neighbor is coming to\nan end?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the confirmation of the coronavirus in Iran, Iraqi\nofficials closed land and air ports with Iran. At the Mehran border in Ilam\nprovince, many Iranian trucks are waiting to enter Iraq. Iranian officials say\nthat Iraq has promised to resolve the issue soon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Iranian official said the problems and restrictions are\nfrom the Iraqi side, but it is not clear whether the issue is related to trade\nand customs or to health regulations in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier, Javan newspaper, affiliated with the IRGC, had\ntalked of problems in exporting gas from Iran to Iraq, mentioning that the\nBaghdad government is to terminate gas contracts with Iran in the next four\nmonths. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American administration has recently agreed to extend\nthe waiver to exempt Iraq from US sanctions on Iran. The waiver gives Iraq 45\ndays to boost domestic gas production or to find alternative sources to address\nits energy shortage, thus reducing Iraq\u2019s reliance on Iran. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Iraqi minister of electricity reacted to the problems in importing gas from Iran, saying that Iraq liquid fuel in its power plant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, Iran and Iraq have had extensive political\nand economic relations, and Tehran has tried to keep its trade relations with\nIraq after the US pulled out of the nuclear deal and US sanctions were\nreinstated. In Iraq, however,  protesters\ntook to the streets last October calling to end Iran\u2019s influence in this\ncountry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January, some reports were released indicating a decline\nin demand for Iranian goods and growing calls to boycott them. But Iranian\nofficials denied these reports claiming good relations with Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Radio Zamaneh<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran Blacklisted by\nFATF Once Again<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The FATF announced that Iran returned to its blacklist once\nagain. The FATF issued a statement authorizing all countries to act\nindependently in their transactions with Iran. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As such, each country can independently take measures to\nkeep its own banking system safe from possible participation in money\nlaundering and terrorist financing through transactions with Iran\u2019s banking\nsystem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iranian officials had earlier warned that Iran\u2019s return to the\nFATF\u2019s blacklist would put a lot of pressure on the country\u2019s economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FATF, an international group which aims to combat money\nlaundering at the global level, required Iran to ratify its anti-money\nlaundering bills in order to lift the restrictions on Iran\u2019s financial and\nbanking system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FATF had earlier given a deadline for the sixth and the\nlast time to Iran to ratify the bills regarding money laundering conventions\nand terrorist financing regulations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rouhani\u2019s government had prepared four bills to meet with the\nFATF\u2019s demands, but despite the government\u2019s persistence, the bills are still\nin limbo in the Iranian Expediency Council. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opponents of the bills say that if ratified, they will\ncause problems for Iran helping groups such as the Lebanese Hezbollah, and\nsecret mechanisms used to circumvent US sanctions will no longer be effective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a consequence of being blacklisted by the FATF, accessing\nany product will become much tougher as buyers and sellers will refuse to transact\nwith the Islamic Republic. What is more, any transaction will be 20 percent to\n25 percent more costly for Iran. Another consequence will be the increase in\nthe price of foreign currency and the drop in value of Iran\u2019s national\ncurrency. The other fallout from blacklisting Iran is that more foreign\ncurrency will be taken out of Iran. Following this measure by the FATF, most\ncountries \u2013 even those that are close to the Islamic Republic like China and\nRussia \u2013 will have to align themselves with the US maximum pressure\ncampaign.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Radio Farda<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Coronavirus Infects\nIranian Officials: The Deputy Health Minister and a Tehran Lawmaker Confirm\nThey Have the Virus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Iran\u2019s Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi and parliamentary\nmember Mahmoud Sadeghi announced that they have contracted the coronavirus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mahmoud Sadeghi tweeted that he \u201chas no hope to live\u201d after he\ntested positive for the virus. Sadeghi also asked the Chief Justice Ebrahim\nRaisi to grant a furlough to political and security prisoners in order to stop\nthe coronavirus from spreading. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent days, some reports on the possibility of the\ncoronavirus outbreak in Iran\u2019s prisons have been published in reaction to which\nthe health ministry spokesman said he has had no news on a \u201cdefinite diagnosis\u201d\nof this disease in Iran\u2019s prisons. \u201cHowever, this issue is not highly unlikely,\u201d\nadded the spokesman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Iran\u2019s Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi\npublished a video clip announcing that he was infected with the virus. Harirchi\nnoted he had \u201cquarantined himself in a place\u201d and was notified that he tested\npositive twice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his video clip, Iran\u2019s deputy health minister described\nthe coronavirus as a \u201cdemocrat\u201d virus that \u201cdoes not distinguish between  rich and poor people nor between officials\nand non-officials.\u201d He claimed that there is a \u201ccertain treatment\u201d for this\nvirus while promising to return to work soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Radio Farda<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Coronavirus Spread so Rapidly Because Priority is Given to Politics Over Everything Else! The editorial of Mostaghel explains how the spread of the coronavirus in Iran represents a political failure.  Finally, official media outlets admitted the existence and spread of the coronavirus in the country. The mortality rate for the virus is around 2 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":7675,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[4363,481,12,1637,712,1106,4366,4365,4364,3136],"class_list":["post-7670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iran-in-a-week","tag-coronavirus","tag-fatf","tag-iran","tag-iran-in-a-week","tag-iranian-people","tag-iranian-regime","tag-iraqs-market","tag-lowest-voter-turnout","tag-political-negligence","tag-the-islamic-republic-of-iran"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7670"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9279,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7670\/revisions\/9279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}