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.



54 Migrants Rescued from Mediterranean Oil Platform

FILED - 31 May 2025, France, Gravelines: A group of people thought to be migrants onboard a small boat leaving the beach at Gravelines, France, attempting to reach the UK by crossing the English Channel. Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire/dpa
FILED - 31 May 2025, France, Gravelines: A group of people thought to be migrants onboard a small boat leaving the beach at Gravelines, France, attempting to reach the UK by crossing the English Channel. Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire/dpa
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54 Migrants Rescued from Mediterranean Oil Platform

FILED - 31 May 2025, France, Gravelines: A group of people thought to be migrants onboard a small boat leaving the beach at Gravelines, France, attempting to reach the UK by crossing the English Channel. Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire/dpa
FILED - 31 May 2025, France, Gravelines: A group of people thought to be migrants onboard a small boat leaving the beach at Gravelines, France, attempting to reach the UK by crossing the English Channel. Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire/dpa

Over 50 migrants were headed to the Italian island of Lampedusa Sunday after a charity ship rescued them from an abandoned oil platform in the Mediterranean, where one woman gave birth.

The vessel Astral, operated by the Spain-based NGO Open Arms, rescued the 54 people overnight, the group said in a statement.

The migrants had been trapped on the oil platform for three days after their rubber boat shipwrecked following their departure from Libya on Tuesday, Open Arms said.

On Friday, one of the migrants gave birth to a boy, while another woman had given birth days before. Two other young children were among the group, Open Arms said, according to AFP.

Later Sunday, the charity said that, following the rescue of those on the oil platform, the Astral came upon another 109 people, including four people in the water.

That group, which included 10 children, had also departed from Libya, it said.
Open Arms said they provided life jackets to the migrants before they were rescued by another charity ship, the Louise Michel, which is sponsored by street artist Banksy.

The Louise Michel, a former French navy vessel, was transporting the migrants to a safe port in Sicily, Open Arms said.

It is not unusual for migrants crossing the Mediterranean on leaky and overcrowded boats to seek refuge on offshore oil platforms.

As of June 1, some 23,000 migrants had reached Italy by sea this year, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).