Iran Registers 51 New Deaths, Fears New Virus Wave

Iranian women wearing protective masks amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, in the capital Tehran. AFP
Iranian women wearing protective masks amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, in the capital Tehran. AFP
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Iran Registers 51 New Deaths, Fears New Virus Wave

Iranian women wearing protective masks amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, in the capital Tehran. AFP
Iranian women wearing protective masks amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, in the capital Tehran. AFP

Iran warned Sunday of a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic as it registered 51 new deaths.

"The situation should in no way be considered normal" in Iran, health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in televised remarks on Sunday.

"This virus will be present" for the time being, he added.

Authorities reimposed more stringent measures in the southwestern Khuzestan province, reversing a phased return to work meant to revitalise the battered economy.

The new fatalities raised the overall confirmed death toll to 6,640 since the country reported its first cases in February 19.

Iran has allowed a phased return to work since April 11 and has since also reopened mosques in parts of the country deemed to be at low risk.

But Jahanpour said Iran was "witnessing a critical situation in Khuzestan province and to an extent in Tehran," AFP reported.

He also said that 1,383 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in the past 24 hours, raising total infections to 107,603.

Out of those hospitalized, 86,143 had recovered and were discharged, but 2,675 were in critical condition.

Experts and officials both in Iran and abroad have cast doubt over the country's COVID-19 figures, saying the actual number of cases could be much higher.

Both the capital Tehran and Khuzestan remained at "red", the top level of its color-coded risk scale.

In the capital, a member of the virus taskforce warned that current health protocols could not contain the spread of the illness in Tehran.

"With businesses reopening, people have forgotten about the protocols," Ali Maher told ISNA news agency.

"Maybe it was too soon" for a return to normal life, Maher said.

President Hassan Rouhani meanwhile said in a televised meeting that schools would partially reopen next Saturday.

This applied only "for students seeking to meet and talk to their teachers" and attendance would not be mandatory, he said.

Cinemas, stadiums and universities remain closed across Iran.



Taiwan Deploys Advanced US HIMARS Rockets in Annual Drills

FILE PHOTO: The Taiwanese military conducts its first High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) live-fire test launch at the Jiupeng base in Pingtung, Taiwan May 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The Taiwanese military conducts its first High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) live-fire test launch at the Jiupeng base in Pingtung, Taiwan May 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
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Taiwan Deploys Advanced US HIMARS Rockets in Annual Drills

FILE PHOTO: The Taiwanese military conducts its first High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) live-fire test launch at the Jiupeng base in Pingtung, Taiwan May 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The Taiwanese military conducts its first High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) live-fire test launch at the Jiupeng base in Pingtung, Taiwan May 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo

Taiwan's military began deploying one of its newest and most precise strike weapons on Saturday, ahead of live-fire drills meant to showcase the island's determination to resist any Chinese invasion.

Two armored trucks with HIMARS - High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems - were seen maneuvering around the city of Taichung near Taiwan's central coast on the fourth of 10 days of its most comprehensive annual exercises yet, Reuters reported.

The live-fire portion of the Han Kuang drills is expected next week.

In wartime, said Colonel Chen Lian-jia, a military spokesperson, it would be vital to conceal HIMARS from enemy aerial reconnaissance, satellites "or even enemy operatives behind our lines" until the order to fire was given.

China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own and has intensified military pressure around the island over the last five years, staging a string of intense war games and daily naval and air force patrols around the territory.

Taiwan rejects China's sovereignty claims, with President Lai Ching-te saying only Taiwan's people can decide their future.

China's defense ministry said this week the Han Kuang drills were "nothing but a bluff" while its foreign ministry said its opposition to US-Taiwan military ties was "consistent and very firm".

Regional military attaches say the HIMARS deployment in a warlike exercise will be closely watched, given that they have been used extensively by Ukraine against Russian forces. Australia has also purchased the Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) systems. Taiwan took delivery last year of the first 11 of 29 HIMARS units, testing them for the first time in May. With a range of about 300 km (190 miles), the weapons could strike coastal targets in China's southern province of Fujian on the other side of the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwanese military analysts say the weapon would be used with its locally developed Thunderbolt 2000 launchers so Chinese forces could be targeted as they left port or attempted to land on Taiwan's coast. A Thunderbolt unit was also seen in a park near the HIMARS units.

Senior Taiwanese military officials say the Han Kuang drills are unscripted and designed to replicate full combat conditions, starting with simulated enemy attacks on communications and command systems, leading to a full-blown invasion scenario.

The drills aim to show China and the international community, including Taiwan's key weapons supplier the US, that Taiwan is determined to defend itself against any Chinese attack or invasion, the officials say.