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Iran: COVID-19 Killing One Person Every 4 Minutes

Iranians wearing protective face masks against the coronavirus walk in a crowded area of the capital Tehran, Iran, March 30, 2021. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo
Iranians wearing protective face masks against the coronavirus walk in a crowded area of the capital Tehran, Iran, March 30, 2021. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo
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Iran: COVID-19 Killing One Person Every 4 Minutes

Iranians wearing protective face masks against the coronavirus walk in a crowded area of the capital Tehran, Iran, March 30, 2021. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo
Iranians wearing protective face masks against the coronavirus walk in a crowded area of the capital Tehran, Iran, March 30, 2021. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo

The new coronavirus is killing one person every four minutes in Iran, state TV reported on Thursday, a death rate authorities said was sure to quicken if Iranians continue to fail to adhere to health protocols, as the country finalized a deal with Russia to purchase 60 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine.

"This week is worse than the previous week. The situation will be much worse next week and we have very difficult days ahead," Health Minister Saeed Namaki was quoted by state media as saying.

The health ministry in the Middle East's hardest-hit country on Thursday reported 321 new deaths and 25,078 new cases over the past 24 hours. A banner on state TV said that amounted to a death every four minutes.

In some cities, the ILNA news agency reported, hospitals had run out of beds to treat new patients.

Thursday's data took Iran's death toll to 65,680 and the number of identified cases to 2,168,872, health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari told state TV.

Complaining about poor social distancing, authorities have imposed a 10-day lockdown since Saturday across most of the country to curb the spread of a fourth wave of the coronavirus.

The lockdown affects 23 of Iran’s 31 provinces.

Businesses, schools, theaters, sports facilities and other public institutions have been forced to shut and gatherings are banned during the fasting holy month of Ramadan.

The severe surge in infections follows a two-week public holiday for Nowruz. Millions traveled to the Caspian coast and other popular vacation spots, packed markets to shop for new clothes and toys and congregated in homes for parties in defiance of government health guidelines.

The state-run IRNA news agency quoted Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, as saying a contract has been “signed and finalized” for enough Sputnik V vaccinations to inoculate 30 million people.

There appeared to be no respite in sight to the virus’s spread as Iran’s vaccine rollout lagged. Only some 200,000 doses have been administered in the country of 84 million, according to the World Health Organization.

COVAX, an international collaboration to deliver the vaccine equitably across the world, delivered its first shipment to Iran on Monday from the Netherlands, containing 700,000 Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine doses.

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UN Chief and Pope Call for Nations to End the Use of Antipersonnel Land Mines

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)
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UN Chief and Pope Call for Nations to End the Use of Antipersonnel Land Mines

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)

The UN head, Pope Francis and others called Monday for nations to end the production and use of land mines, even as their deployment globally grows.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a message to delegates at the fifth review of the International Mine Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Convention, that 25 years after it went into force some parties had renewed the use of antipersonnel mines and some are falling behind in their commitments to destroy the weapons.

“I call on states parties to meet their obligations and ensure compliance to the convention, while addressing humanitarian and developmental impacts through financial and technical support,” Guterres said at the opening of the conference in Cambodia.

“I also encourage all states that have not yet acceded to the convention to join the 164 that have done so. A world without anti-personnel mines is not just possible. It is within reach.”

In a statement read on behalf of Pope Francis, his deputy Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that antipersonnel land mines and victim-activated explosive devices continue to be used. Even after many years of hostilities, “these treacherous devices continue to cause terrible suffering to civilians, especially children.”

“Pope Francis urges all states that have not yet done so to accede to the convention, and in the meantime to cease immediately the production and use of land mines,” he said.

The treaty was signed in 1997 and went into force in 1999, but nearly three dozen countries have not acceded to it, including some key current and past producers and users of land mines such as the United States, China, India, Pakistan, South Korea and Russia.

In a report released last week by Landmine Monitor, the international watchdog said land mines were still actively being used in 2023 and 2024 by Russia, Myanmar, Iran and North Korea. It added that non-state armed groups in at least five places — Colombia, India, Myanmar, Pakistan and the Gaza Strip — had used mines as well, and there were claims of their use in more than a half dozen countries in or bordering the Sahel region of Africa.

At least 5,757 people were killed and wounded by land mines and unexploded ordnance last year, primarily civilians of whom a third were children, Landmine Monitor reported.

Landmine Monitor said Russia had been using antipersonnel mines “extensively” in Ukraine, and just a week ago, the US, which has been providing Ukraine with anti-tank mines throughout the war, announced it would start providing Kyiv with antipersonnel mines as well to try and stall Russian progress on the battlefield.

“Antipersonnel mines represent a clear and present danger for civilians,” Guterres said in his statement. “Even after fighting stops, these horrifying and indiscriminate weapons can remain, trapping generations of people in fear.”

He praised Cambodia for its massive demining efforts and for sharing its experience with others and contributing to UN peacekeeping missions.

Cambodia was one of the world's most mine-affected countries after three decades of war and disorder that ended in 1998, with some 4 million to 6 million mines or unexploded munitions littering the country.

Its efforts to rid the country of mines has been enormous, and Landmine Monitor said Cambodia and Croatia accounted for 75% of all land cleared of mines in 2023, with more than 200 square kilometers (80 square miles).

Prime Minister Hun Manet joined the calls for more nations to join the Mine Ban Treaty, and thanked the international community for supporting Cambodia's mine clearance efforts. He said they have reduced land mine casualties from more than 4,300 in 1996 to fewer than 100 annually over the last decade.

“Cambodia has turned its tragic history into a powerful lesson for the world, advocating against the use of anti-personnel mines and highlighting their long-term consequences,” he said.