Millions can perish, warns Iran state TV

Tehran, March 17: Iran's state television has issued its most drastic warning so far about the new Covid-19, saying the outbreak could kill “millions” in the Islamic Republic if the public keeps travelling and ignoring health guidance. The warning came in a bulletin broadcast on Tuesday afternoon.

Roughly nine out of 10 of the over 18,000 cases of the new virus confirmed across the Middle East come from Iran, where authorities denied for days the risk the outbreak posed. Officials have now implemented new checks for people trying to leave major cities ahead of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, on Friday, but have hesitated to quarantine the areas.

That’s even as the death toll in Iran saw another 13% increase Tuesday. Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said the virus had killed 135 more people to raise the total to 988 amid over 16,000 cases. Hard-line Shiite faithful in Iran pushed their way into the courtyards of two major shrines just closed over fears of the new Covid-19, Iranian state media reported Tuesday, as the Islamic Republic pressed on with its struggle to control the Mideast’s worst outbreak.

Jordan meanwhile prepared for a shutdown of its own over the virus, banning gatherings drawing more than 10 people. Late on Monday night, angry crowds stormed into the courtyards of Mashhad’s Imam Reza shrine and Qom’s Fatima Masumeh shrine. Crowds typically pray there 24 hours a day, seven days a week, touching and kissing the shrine. That’s worried health officials, who for weeks ordered Iran’s Shiite clergy to close them.

Earlier on Monday, the state TV had announced the shrines’ closure, sparking the demonstrations. “We are here to say that Tehran is damn wrong to do that!” one Shiite cleric shouted at the shrine in Mashhad, according to online video. Others joined him in chanting: “The health minister is damn wrong to do that, the president is damn wrong to do that!”

Police later dispersed the crowds, state media reported. Religious authorities and a prominent Qom seminary called the demonstration an “insult” to the shrine in a statement, urging the faithful to rely on “wisdom and patience” amid the closure. Iran’s shrines draw Shiites from all over the Mideast for pilgrimages, likely contributing to the spread of the virus across the region.

President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday said despite the closures, “our soul is closer to the saints more than at any time”.