Iran Reports over 100 Virus Deaths in Single Day in 2 Months

Iranians wearing protective face masks and gloves walks in Baam-e, following the outbreak of the coronavirus, in Tehran, Iran June 12, 2020. (Reuters)
Iranians wearing protective face masks and gloves walks in Baam-e, following the outbreak of the coronavirus, in Tehran, Iran June 12, 2020. (Reuters)
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Iran Reports over 100 Virus Deaths in Single Day in 2 Months

Iranians wearing protective face masks and gloves walks in Baam-e, following the outbreak of the coronavirus, in Tehran, Iran June 12, 2020. (Reuters)
Iranians wearing protective face masks and gloves walks in Baam-e, following the outbreak of the coronavirus, in Tehran, Iran June 12, 2020. (Reuters)

Iran on Sunday reported over 100 new deaths in a single day from the novel coronavirus, for the first time in two months.

In televised remarks, health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari announced 107 COVID-19 fatalities in the past 24 hours, raising the overall toll to 8,837.

"It was very painful for us to announce the triple-digit figure," said Lari.

"This is an unpredictable and wild virus and may surprise us at any time," she added, urging Iranians to observe health protocols.

Iran last recorded triple-digit daily fatalities on April 13, with 111 dead.

Lari also announced 2,472 new cases confirmed in the past day, bringing the total infection caseload to 187,427, with over 148,000 recoveries.

There has been skepticism at home and abroad about Iran's official COVID-19 figures, with concerns the real toll could be much higher.

Iran has struggled to contain what has become the region’s deadliest outbreak of the illness since it reported its first cases in Qom city in February.

But since April it has gradually lifted restrictions to ease the intense pressures on its sanctions-hit economy.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday reproached citizens for failing to observe measures designed to rein in the virus.

Official figures have shown a rising trajectory in new confirmed cases since early May, which the government has attributed to increased testing rather than a worsening caseload.



Trump Says Israeli Strike on Iran Could Happen

President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 27, 2024, in St. Cloud, Minn. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 27, 2024, in St. Cloud, Minn. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
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Trump Says Israeli Strike on Iran Could Happen

President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 27, 2024, in St. Cloud, Minn. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 27, 2024, in St. Cloud, Minn. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

US President Donald Trump said Thursday he is still urging Iran to negotiate a nuclear deal, but that he is concerned a “massive conflict” could occur in the Middle East if it does not.

“I don’t want to say imminent, but it looks like it’s something that could very well happen,” Trump said in response to a question from a reporter about a potential Israeli attack. "Look, it’s very simple, not complicated. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump offered guarded optimism that a conflict could still be avoided, and said he's urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off from taking action for the time-being.

“As long as I think there is a (chance for an) agreement, I don’t want them going in because I think it would blow it," Trump stated.

Trump said he felt it was necessary for his administration on Wednesday to direct a voluntary evacuation of nonessential personnel and their families from some US diplomatic outposts in the Middle East.

“We have a lot of American people in this area. And I said, we got to tell them to get out because something could happen soon,” Trump said. "And I don’t want to be the one that didn’t give any warning, and missiles are flying into their buildings. It’s possible. So I had to do it."

Iran said it has built and will activate a third nuclear enrichment facility, ratcheting up tensions with the UN on Thursday immediately after its atomic watchdog agency censured Iran for failing to comply with nonproliferation obligations meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

“Iran has no choice but to respond to this political resolution,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry and Atomic Energy Organization said in a joint statement.

The censure by the International Atomic Energy Agency, its first in 20 years over Iranian non-compliance, could set in motion an effort to restore sanctions on Iran later this year.

Trump had previously warned that Israel or America could launch airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiators failed to reach a deal on Iran's rapidly advancing nuclear program.

A sixth round of Iran-US talks is scheduled to begin Sunday in Oman.