Thousands of Tenants Left “Homeless” in Tehran as Result of Coronavirus Outbreak

Abolfattah Parpanchi, head of the Relief Committee of Tehran Province, announced the existence of 11,500 tenants in Tehran who have become homeless as a result of the economic consequences of coronavirus.

Mr. Parpanchi said on Wednesday, April 30, to the ILNA news agency that the biggest problem for this institution is 11,500 tenants in Tehran for whom providing housing in the metropolis is difficult.

He also stated that some of the committee’s beneficiaries have lost their jobs due to the spread of coronavirus, and assistance payments of 150,000 to 500,000 tomans have been allocated for them.

According to the head of Tehran’s Relief Committee, currently 74,500 families are covered by this committee, while in recent months, the spread of coronavirus has led approximately 13,000 needy families to request assistance.

This comes after Iran’s First Vice President announced the establishment of a “Council for Cooperation between Government, Public Bodies and Civil Organizations” to support those affected by coronavirus, and the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also announced the formation of a special headquarters for this purpose.

The IRGC commander announced that this headquarters was formed with the presence of the Foundation for the Oppressed, the Relief Committee, the Execution Headquarters, the Astan Quds Razavi, and Basij, all of which are institutions under the supervision of the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader, and the Ministry of Industry also supports this headquarters.

In late March, the website of the office of the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader also launched a special section for receiving financial assistance “for those affected by coronavirus.”

The announcement of these reports comes as extensive discussions have been held in recent weeks about allocating budgets to combat coronavirus from the billions of dollars in resources available to institutions under the supervision of the Supreme Leader.

Morgan Ortagus, spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, said on April 11, referring to Zarif’s request to lift sanctions during the coronavirus crisis, that the Iranian government can use “billions of dollars” in funds held in accounts affiliated with the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader to combat coronavirus.

Source: Radio Farda