TEHRAN, Iran — Iran issued its most dire warning yet Tuesday about the outbreak of the new coronavirus ravaging the country, suggesting “millions” could die in the Islamic Republic if people keep traveling and ignoring health guidance. A state television journalist who also is a medical doctor gave the warning...
Virus Toll in Iran Climbs as Lockdowns Deepen Across Mideast
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran reported another 129 fatalities from the new coronavirus on Monday, the largest one-day rise in deaths since it began battling the Middle East's worst outbreak, which has claimed more than 850 lives and infected a number of senior officials in the country. Businesses in Iran's capital...
Iran Asks for Billions in Loans as Virus Death Toll Climbs
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran said Thursday it asked the International Monetary Fund for a $5 billion loan to fight the coronavirus, the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that it has sought such assistance, in a staggering admission of how fragile its economy has become amid the epidemic and...
Iraq Army Says US Strikes Kill 5 Security Forces, 1 Civilian
BAGHDAD — Iraq's military said five security force members and a civilian were killed early Friday in a barrage of U.S. airstrikes launched hours after a rocket attack killed and wounded American and British servicemen at a base north of Baghdad. An Iran-backed Shiite militia group vowed to exact revenge...
Officials: US Strikes Iran-Backed Group That Hit Iraq Base
WASHINGTON — The U.S. launched airstrikes in Iraq Thursday, American officials said, targeting the Iranian-backed Shia militia members believed responsible for the rocket attack that killed and wounded American and British troops at a base north of Baghdad. One U.S. official said multiple strikes targeted Kataib Hezbollah weapons facilities inside...
Iran VP, 2 Cabinet Members Have New Virus
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's senior vice president and two other Cabinet members have contracted the new coronavirus, a semiofficial news agency reported Wednesday as the death toll in the Islamic Republic from the outbreak rose by 62 to 354. The report by the Fars news agency, believed to be close...
Lawyer Says Award-Winning Iran Filmmaker Summoned to Prison
TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian filmmaker who just won the Berlin Film Festival's Golden Bear has been summoned to serve a one-year prison sentence over his movies, his lawyer said Wednesday. Mohammad Rasoulof's sentence came from three films he made that authorities found to be “propaganda against the system," his...
Iran's Military on Alert as Virus Kills 77, Sickens Leaders
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran put its armed forces on alert Tuesday to assist health officials in battling the new coronavirus that's killed at least 77 people, an outbreak that has sickened top officials and pushed even its supreme leader into wearing disposable gloves while trying to reassure the nation. Even...
Amid Virus, Saudis Close Islam's Holiest Sites to Foreigners
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia on Thursday closed off the holiest sites in Islam to foreign pilgrims over the coronavirus, disrupting travel for thousands of Muslims already headed to the kingdom and potentially affecting plans later this year for millions more ahead of the fasting month of Ramadan...
Saudi Arabia Halts Pilgrimage; Iran Vice President Has Virus
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia on Thursday banned foreign pilgrims from entering the kingdom to visit Islam's holiest sites over the new coronavirus, potentially disrupting the plans of millions of faithful ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and as the annual hajj pilgrimage looms. The decision...