Several Iranian MPs: The entire country should be quarantined

A number of Iranian parliamentarians have suggested a nationwide quarantine. Officials have urged people to avoid Nowruz travel this year and are emphasizing the importance of coordination among government agencies to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

According to Shahabuddin Bemagdar, a representative from Tabriz in the Iranian parliament, he and some members of parliament suggested in a meeting with the Minister of Health that the entire country should be quarantined to effectively combat the coronavirus.

The Tabriz MP and member of the Omid parliamentary faction said: "Bandeh and some other MPs suggested that the country be completely quarantined and travel be reduced. This was a good suggestion, at least for the provinces that have not yet been affected, to completely restrict travel and not let this disease spread."

In an interview with the Labor News Agency (ILNA), Bemqeddar said that "about seventy or eighty representatives and officials related to the treatment and control of Corona" were present at the aforementioned meeting, which was held on Thursday, March 12, with the presence of the Speaker of the Parliament and the Minister of Health.

He told the media in a report: "The summation of the representatives' talks was that the situation is very critical and we must be serious." He expressed surprise that the president considered the country's situation "normal."

This reformist representative clarifies: "My specific proposal was that we should pay every Iranian 400,000 tomans and close the country completely until March 25, except for pharmacies and places that produce basic necessities and food, then we should quarantine, and this is not even a small amount, but rather an approximate amount of 32 trillion tomans."

Ban on Nowruz travel

As Iran approaches Nowruz, its biggest national holiday, some Iranian cities have warned citizens against traveling, saying this is the best opportunity for the coronavirus to infect as many people as possible.

Mohammad Reza Kalai, the mayor of Mashhad, urged people not to travel to Mashhad this year, as their trip could bring about “a humanitarian disaster.”

Arsalan Zare, the governor of Gilan, also said in an interview with Iranian state television: "Everywhere in Gilan is contaminated except for people's homes."

He further emphasized: "We repeatedly ask people not to travel to Gilan."

The impact of US sanctions on combating Corona

Masoud Pezzekian, the deputy speaker of Iran's parliament, has said that there is no need to import "medical equipment" to combat the coronavirus.

While criticizing the performance of the Supreme Health Council, he emphasizes that the rapid spread of the disease in Iran is not related to the shortage of medical equipment such as masks and ventilators, but rather because government agencies did not deal with the disease in a timely manner.

In recent days, as the epidemic has spread in Iran, some have criticized the coronavirus for spreading to Iran at a time when the country is struggling to procure medical equipment to combat the virus due to severe US sanctions.

Explaining the shortage of medical equipment, Mezekian says: "The problem is not treatment, the problem is prevention, and in this prevention, we do not have the necessary coordination as we should have."