{"id":7731,"date":"2020-03-19T15:17:52","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T12:17:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/?p=7731"},"modified":"2020-03-19T15:17:55","modified_gmt":"2020-03-19T12:17:55","slug":"doors-of-holy-shrines-in-qom-and-mashhad-broken-in-protest-against-their-closure-tehrans-efforts-to-change-the-coronavirus-threat-into-a-monetary-opportunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/monitoring-and-translation\/iran-in-a-week\/doors-of-holy-shrines-in-qom-and-mashhad-broken-in-protest-against-their-closure-tehrans-efforts-to-change-the-coronavirus-threat-into-a-monetary-opportunity\/","title":{"rendered":"Doors of Holy Shrines in Qom and Mashhad Broken in Protest Against Their Closure; Tehran\u2019s Efforts to Change the Coronavirus Threat into a Monetary Opportunity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Iran is Not Serious About\nCombating the Coronavirus <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The editorial of Setareh Sobh explains why Iran, unlike\nChina, has been unable to contain the coronavirus outbreak in the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the coronavirus spread in China, the Chinese government\nquarantined the city of Wuhan and stopped its interactions with the rest of the\nworld. But Mahan Air flights between Iran and China continued, and Iran\u2019s\ncooperation with China didn\u2019t come to an end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Infected cities like Qom should have been put under quarantine.\nNo such thing happened; instead, there was secrecy in this respect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the coronavirus outbreak happened in Qom, officials had\nto talk about it cautiously. According to Shia beliefs, Qom is supposed to be\nthe \u201chouse of cure\u201d and one of the gates of this city is said to open in\nParadise. So no one dared to quarantine this city. Placing this city under quarantine\nrequired national resolve, which was beyond the powers of its mayor or\ngovernor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, at the time of the coronavirus outbreak, Iran was\ngetting closer to the 22nd of Bahaman rallies. It was the first state rally\nafter the November popular protests. And following the protests, there were the\nparliamentary elections, and no one wanted to undermine the elections in the\ncountry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, the groundwork was laid for the coronavirus\noutbreak, and it spread to other cities from Qom. Today some countries \u2013 such\nas Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Germany, Canada \u2013 claim that Iranian passengers brought\nthe coronavirus to their lands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides, poor coordination and no central command in\nmanaging the crisis paved the way for the virus to spread. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now people do not trust the statistics announced by the Health\nMinistry, as recent events including the November protests and the downing of\nthe Ukrainian flight by the IRGC have weakened public trust. Meanwhile, there\nis still no decision-making center in this regard, and naturally, the number of\ninfections and death tolls are on the rise. With the armed forces entering the\nbattlefield to combat the coronavirus, people have become hopeful. But the\nresults are to be seen in the upcoming days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Coronavirus Diplomacy\nWith the Aim of Decreasing Tensions Between Iran and America<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The editorial of Setareh Sobh sees the coronavirus outbreak\nin Iran as an opportunity to alleviate tensions between Iran and America in\norder to start talks between the two countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The global outbreak of the coronavirus has created a\npossibility for global cooperation among countries despite their political\ndifferences and animosity. Iran\u2019s measures \u2013 including FM Zarif\u2019s letter to the\nUN Secretary-General and requesting a $5 billion loan from the International\nMonetary Fund (IMF), as well as the letter of the Iranian Central Bank\u2019s\ngovernor to the IMF \u2013 are steps in the right direction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such measures are more influential as organizations like the\nUnited Nations and IMF show more flexibility in cases of humanitarian crises.\nIf the IMF and the United Nations do not take any steps in this regard, this\nwill have a negative impact on their  international\npublic standing as it will be viewed as a failure  to fulfill their duties in critical\nsituations like that of the coronavirus outbreak. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, Iran is a developing country and needs\nmore help compared to advanced countries. Under these circumstances, these\norganizations should pay more attention to poor or developing countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this context, the government has launched its coronavirus\ndiplomacy. Even though it will probably not come to fruition under US pressure on\nthe IMF and the United Nations, it is the right step. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This diplomacy can be fruitful and pave the way for\nnegotiations between Iran and America in order to cancel sanctions on food and\nother items. America offered to give healthcare products to help Iran but this was\nmet with a harsh reaction from Iranian officials, which was not the right\nresponse as during the coronavirus crisis, any help should be embraced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the current critical conditions, can the coronavirus\npave the way for talks between Iran and America in order to revoke sanctions on\nfood and medicine? Even though the coronavirus is a temporary issue, it can\nhelp the two countries to alleviate the hostility, despite the serious\ndifferences that exist between them.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Will the IMF Respond\nto Iran\u2019s Request for Money?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the coronavirus widespread in Iran, Iranian officials\nhave asked for help from the IMF. The editorial of Jahan Sanat explains the\ndifficulties in this regard, saying Iran should either requesthelp from China or accept US aid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IMF is an international organization which forecasts and\nassesses the global economic situation. One of the main tasks of this financial\ninstitution is to help countries that are in critical condition through\noffering loans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why Iran\u2019s Central Bank governor and Iran\u2019s foreign\nminister recently asked the IMF for $5 billion to fight the coronavirus spread\nin Iran. Besides, Iran\u2019s healthcare system is at the frontline in fighting the\nvirus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the question is: will the IMF agree to pay this money to\nIran? If so, how will the money become accessible to Iran? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IMF or any other financial institution is afraid of\nwhether this money will be spent on fighting the coronavirus or on other issues\nand regional goals. So the main issue in granting such a loan is lack of trust.\nThe other issue is paying such an amount of money in accordance with a payment\nsystem. The IMF can only grant this aid in part, which means that it cannot pay\nthis money to Iran all at once. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other point is that the IMF will have certain conditions\nin providing aid to countries that are in critical condition. These conditions\nare so complicated that it would be almost impossible. In this regard, the\nIMF\u2019s main condition is Iran ratifying the FATF bill and carrying out financial\ntransactions within the SWIFT system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems that the European SWIFT or INSTEX has not been\nimplemented and there haven\u2019t been any financial transactions with Iran within\nthis framework. Now, under these circumstances, how should aid be granted and\ntransferred to Iran\u2019s Central Bank? Will the IMF agree to pay this money to\nIran in cash?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under these circumstances, it seems that Iran should forget\nabout receiving this aid. Iran seems to have two options to defeat the\ncoronavirus disease: it should ask China for help, which has created this serious\nproblem for Iran. Or else, it must count on Washington for help, which since\nthe coronavirus outbreak has sent signals announcing its readiness to help resolve\nthe coronavirus crisis in Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Confusion in Managing\nthe Coronavirus Crisis <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The editorial of Tejarat explains why as a result of\nconfusion in managing the coronavirus in Iran, the situation has worsened in\nthe country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iranian people are facing hard times: the coronavirus is ravaging\nthe country and due to modern technology, people are exposed to devastating,\nheart-wrenching news every day. Social networks, despite their advantages in\ngiving information, have become imbued with fake news: conflicting statistics\nregarding the number of deaths due to the coronavirus disease, genetic\nengineering of the coronavirus for biological war, killing the virus by drinking\nalcohol, and skepticism towards official statistics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, there is nothing but confusion in the news\nresulting in public disenchantment. Amidst the peak of the coronavirus\nepidemic, people do not pay attention to official recommendations. Meanwhile,\nIranian President Hassan Rouhani promises everything will be normal and even\nmentioned an exact date for it! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the aforementioned have fueled endless rumors. A look at\nthe media with regard to the coronavirus crisis shows that those who are managing\nthe crisis have not used the media to control the situation. And now the media\nmostly adds fuel to the crisis. We must truly believe that in this era, the\nmedia \u2013 particularly social networks \u2013 are very powerful, so it is necessary to\ncontrol them during a crisis like this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poor management shows that Iran was confused in\nunderstanding the nature of the crisis. While the coronavirus was rapidly\nspreading across China and it was predicted that it would come to Iran, the\ndecision-makers and policymakers were indifferent towards it and were not\nwilling to inform and prepare the public through the media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the coronavirus, several  questions remain: Why were flights to China\nstopped late? Why weren\u2019t there any educational and warning messages on city\nbillboards? Why weren\u2019t  cities\nquarantined on time? Why weren\u2019t disinfectant products like alcohol, hand\nsanitizers, and face masks manufactured and supplied? All these questions point\nto confusion in managing the coronavirus in Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tejarat <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Doors of Holy Shrines\nin Qom and Mashhad Broken in Protest Against their Closure<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Following the closure of the Hazrat Masoumeh Shrine by the\nNational Coronavirus Combat and Prevention Headquarters, a number of individuals\nattacked and broke its doors in order to enter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previously, the information center of this shrine had issued\na statement, criticizing the governor\u2019s office in Qom for cancelling mass\nprayers at the shrine and disinfecting it due to the coronavirus outbreak. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statement claimed the structure of this shrine is\n\u201chighly antibacterial and a firm obstacle to the coronavirus epidemic\u201d due to\nthe presence of silver in it. It also called this shrine \u201cDar-ul-Shifa\u201d [house\nof cure] where people can come and receive mental and physical healing, adding that\nit should not be closed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parliament Member Ali Motahari has called for the \u201carrest\nand punishment\u201d of those who broke the doors of the Hazrat Masoumeh Shrine in\nthe city of Qom. In a tweet, Motahari called the attackers \u201cbrainless\nreactionaries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city of Mashhad where the shrine of the eighth Shia Imam\nis located witnessed the same attack, when a group of individuals broke the\nprotective fences and entered the shrine in opposition to the decision of the\nNational Coronavirus Combat and Prevention Headquarters to close the shrine to\nstop the coronavirus spread. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Tehran\u2019s Efforts to\nChange the Coronavirus Threat into a Monetary Opportunity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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FM Mohammad Javad Zarif, in a letter to the UN\nSecretary-General, called for lifting sanctions on Iran, claiming that due to\nthe sanctions, medicines, medical equipment and humanitarian goods are not sold\nto Iran, which is a major problem in fighting the coronavirus disease in the\ncountry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in a letter to some\nnational leaders, asked them to help Iran in dealing with the sanctions, now\nthat Iran is grappling with the coronavirus outbreak. He too claimed that the\nUS sanctions have impeded treatment for those infected with the coronavirus in\nIran. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some other Iranian officials including the speaker of the\nParliament Ali Larijani too made similar claims. Tehran mayor Pirooz Hanachi\nwent so far as to claim that because of the US sanctions, the plan for\nquarantine cannot be enforced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no doubt that the sanctions have put additional\npressure on Iranians and Iran\u2019s economy. But to what extent are the claims of\nthe sanctions impeding the supply of medicine and medical equipment to Iran\ntrue? When the government’s currency allocated to importing medicines is used\nin importing electricity cables, cigarettes, and household appliances, then\nnaturally corruption, rent seeking, and the medical mafia in Iran play a bigger\nrole in this crisis than the sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States has always claimed that humanitarian\ngoods, medicine, and medical equipment are exempt from tUS sanctions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the coronavirus outbreak, a humanitarian channel\nworth $2.5 million was activated by Switzerland to send humanitarian goods\nincluding anti-cancer drugs to Iran. On the other hand, the US secretary of the\ntreasury recently mentioned that there is no ban on sending medicine, medical\nequipment, and humanitarian aid to Iran to fight the coronavirus outbreak. The\nUS president and secretary of state also suggested helping Iran, which was\nrejected and called \u2018hypocritical\u2019 by Tehran\u2019s officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran\u2019s isolation results from its regional, nuclear, and\nmissile policies. Now Tehran is trying to change the coronavirus threat to an\nopportunity in order to gain financial resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Undoubtedly, the US sanctions have hit the Iranian people\nhard, but significant weaknesses in managing the crisis cannot be covered up\nunder the \u201cimpact of sanctions.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Independent Persian <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al-Mustafa University\nSlams a Top Sunni Cleric Over his Coronavirus Remarks <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Following the remarks of Molavi Abdul Hamid, Zahedan\u2019s\nFriday prayers leader, about the coronavirus disease entering Iran through\nChinese seminary students in the city of Qom, he came under mounting pressure\nfrom clerics and religious institutes close to the Islamic Republic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abdul Hamid pointed to how the coronavirus disease entered\nIran through Chinese religious students at Al Mustafa International University\nin the city of Qom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This educational institute was established by the Islamic\nestablishment in Iran to promote Shiite Islam in other countries. It is located\nin the city of Qom and has 60 branches in other countries. Al Mustafa\u2019s\nofficials say that currently 100,000 religious students from 136 countries\nincluding China are studying at this institute. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abdul Hamid also slammed Al Mustafa University for receiving\nthe highest budget in the country, adding, \u201cthousands of students who know\nnothing about their religion go to this place and are brainwashed.\u201d He also\nsaid that some students of Al Mustafa have gone to him, saying they want to\nreturn to their countries, but their passports have been confiscated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al Mustafa issued a statement in reaction to Abdul Hamid\u2019s\nremarks, calling them \u201cinconsiderate\u201d and \u201cabusing one\u2019s position.\u201d This\ninstitute has also denied reports about the coronavirus entering Iran thorough\nChinese religious students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some clerics in the city of Qom too have reacted to Abdul\nHamid\u2019s remarks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

A Lawmaker Berates Officials for not Quarantining Qom: They Have Traded People\u2019s Lives due to Superstitious Beliefs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Parliament member Parvaneh Salahshouri has severely\ncriticized the authorities for not putting the city of Qom under quarantine,\nsaying they have traded people\u2019s lives due to some \u201csuperstitious beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAuthorities could have quarantined Qom immediately from the\nvery beginning instead of denying the truth, so that this virus would not\nspread in other cities,\u201d asserted Salahshouri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with Jahan-e Sanat daily, this Tehran parliamentary\nrepresentative also called for prosecuting Iran\u2019s state TV and radio (IRIB) for\ncalling the coronavirus epidemic a rumor before the country\u2019s parliamentary\nelections in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the IRIB, Salahshouri\nslammed Mahan Airlines for continuing its flights between Iran and China\ndespite the coronavirus outbreak, saying if this crisis had happened in another\ncountry, such an airline would have been held responsible as the major cause of\nthe disease\u2019s spread and prosecuted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She then said Iranian authorities are good at doing three\nthings: secrecy, telling lies and politicizing everything. \u201cAnd if the\nauthorities are unable to keep some issues secret or lie about them, they\nresort to conspiracy theories,\u201d noted Salahshouri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

A Cleric Denies a\nFatwa on Buying the Coronavirus Vaccine From Israel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, a Shiite source of\nemulation, has denied his fatwa on buying the coronavirus vaccine from Israel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This cleric was quoted as saying in an interview with\nHamdeli newspaper last week that if Israel was the only country able to develop\na vaccine for the coronavirus disease, then there would be no problem for\nIranians to use it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency said the\nreport was an \u201cutter lie\u201d published by \u201cmalicious\u201d individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the news announced by Migal Galilee institute in\nIsrael about developing an effective vaccine for coronavirus within a few\nweeks, Hamdeli newspaper published an article posing this question: Is Iran, as\na Muslim country without any political or economic relations with Israel,\nallowed to use this vaccine? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In reply to that question, the office of Ayatollah Makarem\nShirazi said to this newspaper: \u201cIf it is certain that the interests [of the\nvaccine] belong to Zionists and Israel, then buying or selling it is not\npermissible, unless it is the only way of treatment for the disease and no\nother alternatives exist. In that case it has no problem.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Radio Farda<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Iran is Not Serious About Combating the Coronavirus The editorial of Setareh Sobh explains why Iran, unlike China, has been unable to contain the coronavirus outbreak in the country. When the coronavirus spread in China, the Chinese government quarantined the city of Wuhan and stopped its interactions with the rest of the world. But Mahan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":7732,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[4522,4363,21,409,1570,28,4431,4433],"class_list":["post-7731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iran-in-a-week","tag-al-mustafa-university","tag-coronavirus","tag-israel","tag-mashhad","tag-qom","tag-tehran","tag-the-coronavirus","tag-the-coronavirus-in-iran"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7731","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=7731"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7737,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7731\/revisions\/7737"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}