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Irans election on Friday was a blow to moderates, a disappointment for conservative rulers and bad news for the region too. The result was largely ordained before anyone could cast a ballot. Hardliners appear to have swept the parliamentary contest taking all 30 seats in Tehran because the authorities ensured that they would. The Guardian Council, which is loosely under the control of the supreme leader, had disqualified around half of the thousands of candidates for the 290-seat body, including 90 serving members. While parliaments powers are limited, it can impede the president and shape the political environment; with a presidential race due next year, the result sets a course for conservative control of every branch of government as seen during Mahmoud Ahmadinejads grim tenure.

Yet the outcome of Fridays poll was far from the endorsement sought. Despite the supreme leaders exhortations to vote, the extension of polling hours and the anger engendered by the US assassination of Qassem Suleimani, commander of the Quds force, a usually active electorate stayed away. Turnout stood at just 42.5%, the first time it has dipped below 50% since the 1979 revolution; in Tehran it was just 25%.

Though Ayatollah Khamenei blamed Irans enemies for exaggerating the threat of the new coronavirus, it is not surprising that so many voters saw little point in participating. Not only were their candidates struck from this contest, but they have little to show for supporting them in the past. In 2013, the moderate Hassan Rouhani won the presidency pledging to end his countrys isolation and revive its economy. The resulting nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ensured a landslide when he stood again in 2017. Yet the opposition he has faced internally, the moderates own shortcomings and, above all, the Trump administrations hostility have left the country in desperate straits. The unilateral US withdrawal from the JCPOA and its reimposition of sanctions are strangling the countrys economy: the World Bank estimates that it shrank by almost 9% last year. Inflation and unemployment have soared. Europes efforts to shore up the deal have yet to offer relief; they must continue.

The frustrations found an outlet in Novembers brutally suppressed protests the third outbreak of unrest in as many years and have only grown since then. The shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger plane, which Iran denied for days before admitting responsibility, prompted fresh protests and further exposed the rifts between and within the countrys institutions. Now a coronavirus outbreak, the deadliest outside China, is spreading in a country where the health system is already under immense strain due to sanctions. It will also deepen economic woes: on Sunday, Pakistan and Turkey announced they were closing their borders and Afghanistan said it was suspending all travel to and from the country.

Domestic incompetence and corruption have unquestionably contributed to the hopelessness that so many Iranians feel today. But it is above all the Trump administrations choices in walking out of the JCPOA, imposing punishing sanctions and assassinating General Suleimani, arguably the second most powerful man in the country after the supreme leader which have tightened the grip of hardliners and strengthened the belief that cultivating its nuclear programme and its proxies is a better bet than counting on meetings with western diplomats. A vital opportunity has been squandered, and Iranians are paying the price. Others may do so too.

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The Guardian view on Irans elections: a closing door - The Guardian

Turkey and Pakistan have both closed their borders with Iran, with Turkey also halting incoming flights, in an effort to stop the potential spread of coronavirus after Iran reported 43 cases of the disease.

All highways and railways were closed at the border between Turkey and Iran as of 5pm local time and flights from Iran had been suspended, the Turkish health minister, Fahrettin Koca, said on Sunday. Flights from Turkey to Iran were still being allowed.

A provincial official in Pakistan and the countrys Frontier Corps also confirmed that it had sealed its land border with Iran.

Parts of Iran face lockdown as part of Iranian attempts to control the spread of Covid-19, which has killed eight people in Iran. If the situation gets any worse city staff will be expected to convert to teleworkers, said the mayor of Tehran, Pirouz Hanachi.

The World Health Organization is recommending that people take simple precautions to reduce exposure to and transmission of the Wuhan coronavirus, for which there is no specific cure or vaccine.

The UN agencyadvisespeople to:

Despite a surge in sales of face masks in the aftermath of the outbreak of the coronavirus outbreak, experts are divided over whether they can prevent transmission and infection. There is some evidence to suggest that masks can help prevent hand-to-mouth transmissions, given the large number of times people touch their faces. The consensus appears to be that wearing a mask can limit but not eliminate the risks, provided they are used correctly.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised UK nationals to leave China where possible. It is also warning that travellers from Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand who develop symptoms of cough or fever or shortness of breath within 14 days of returning the UK should contact the NHS by phone.

Justin McCurry

The Iranian authorities have also been fighting an information war amid widespread distrust on social media about whether the public is being told the truth about the scale of the outbreak.

Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, claimed Tehrans enemies were spreading mistrust and blamed western scare stories for the low turnout in parliamentary elections on Friday.

The first confirmed death from the virus in the Middle East was reported last Wednesday in the city of Qom, about an hours drive from Tehran. The number of people on the streets of the capital has been noticeably lower than usual, with many shops shut and face masks in short supply and increasingly expensive.

The authorities have introduced increasingly drastic measures in Tehran and 13 provinces, including the closure of schools, universities, cinemas and theatres. Public buses in Tehran have been disinfected, and posters put up urging people to clean their hands and not shake those of others.

The citys school system has been shut for a minimum of two days to allow for disinfection spraying. There was also widespread advice to stay home and avoid places where people congregate. Some football matches were cancelled. Metro stations were not shut, but water fountains and shops were all being closed. The council said it was also taking new steps to dispose of waste.

At the airport, roughly a third of passengers were wearing masks, but there were no special controls on people leaving the country. Turkey, Iraq and Pakistan have either closed borders or are imposing extra health checks.

Despite the precautions the vast majority were carrying on with their daily lives as normal.

Some of the families of those that have died in Qom claim to know of no contact with anyone in China, prompting claims that this may be an indigenous disease. The health minister, Saeed Namaki, denied this, saying one victim traded in China and had travelled there indirectly. The strain discovered in Iran matched that in China, he said.

He has recommended no travel to or from Qom, as well as promising to distribute free coronavirus packages to residents in the area, including masks and educational brochures.

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Turkey and Pakistan close borders with Iran over coronavirus deaths - The Guardian

Irans deputy health ministerwho on Monday denied accusations that the government was hiding the true extent of the coronavirus outbreak in the countryhas reportedly tested positive for the sickness. Its just one day since Minister Iraj Harirchi publicly denied reports that the virus had killed 50 people in the city of Qom, saying that if even a quarter of that number had lost their lives to the virus then he would resign. Irans health ministry confirmed Tuesday that Harirchi had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and has now been placed in quarantine. Meanwhile, hundreds of guests have been told not to leave a Spanish hotel after a visiting Italian doctor tested positive for coronavirus. The H10 Costa Adeje Palace Hotel on Tenerife, one of Spains Canary Islands, informed guests Tuesday morning that they had to stay in their rooms until further notice.

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Iran Health Minister Who Played Down Coronavirus Threat Tests Positive for It - The Daily Beast

Coronavirus clusters outside of China have prompted US officials to issue travel warnings for Italy and Iran after each country reported a spike in cases.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention raised the threat to level-one status Sunday night for both countries, warning travelers to practice usual precautions.

The travel advisory noted that multiple instances of the coronavirus spreading within each country had been confirmed.

This new coronavirus has caused severe disease and death in patients who developed pneumonia, the advisories said. Risk factors for severe illness are not yet clear, although older adults and those with chronic medical conditions may be at higher risk for severe illness.

Italy has reported 219 people who have tested positive for the coronavirus and five who have died. Meanwhile, Irans government has said 12 people died from the virus, rejecting earlier reports that the death toll there had hit 50.

Visitors to the coronavirus-stricken destinations are encouraged to avoid contact with sick people and clean their hands often by washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

Anyone who visits either country and experiences symptoms of the virus such as a fever, cough or difficulty breathing is urged to seek medical care, as well as to avoid contact with others, officials said.

The new advisories come as Italy has placed a dozen towns under quarantine in the wake of the coronavirus.

The country has effectively sealed off a dozen northern towns in the Lombardy and Veneto regions, two hotspots of the outbreak. Around 50,000 people are prohibited from leaving the towns for the next two weeks without permission.

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Travel advisories for Italy and Iran issued amid coronavirus outbreak - New York Post

Israel has identified initial signs that Iran is recalculating its trajectory in Syria, giving the Jewish state an opportunity to go from the defensive to the offensive, Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday.I can announce that we are identifying initial signs of loosening and recalculation by Iran regarding its plans in Syria, Bennett said at the New Tech conference. We just started and we will increase. We will go from a defensive concept to an offensive concept weakening, tiring and erasing the octopuss head by weakening its tentacles.For us, Syria is not only a threat but also an opportunity, he said. They send forces there and try to exhaust us, but we can turn the downside into an advantage. We have intelligence and operational superiority, and we are telling Iran clearly: Get out of Syria. You have nothing to look for there.Israel has warned repeatedly about Irans nuclear ambitions as well as its aspirations of regional hegemony. Jerusalem has admitted to hundreds of air strikes as part of its war-between-wars campaign to prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon and the entrenchment of its forces in Syria, where they could easily act against the Jewish state.Bennett also referred to ongoing demonstrations taking place across Iran by citizens who are suffering from the economic sanctions placed on the Islamic Republic by the United States.The Iranian people are telling the Ayatollahs: stop wasting our money and shedding our blood in [needless] adventures. The Iranian people have had enough, he said, adding that we in Israel are corresponding with this message. The ground is burning in Iran, the embers are not extinguished, they are glowing.Last week, the IDF released more details of its new Momentum multi-year plan. One of the top priorities of Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavis plan, which aims to obtain a considerable military advantage over Israels foes, is to establish a new Iran Command.That same day Bennett said that Israel is engaged in a continuous campaign to weaken Iran and to remove its forces from Syria.We are constantly working to raise the stakes for Iran until we reach our ultimate goal: removing them from Syria. We will continue to prevent an Iranian presence on our northern border, Bennett said during a memorial ceremony at Kibbutz Dafna in the Galilee.For generations, we have been constantly fighting the arms of the Iranian octopus in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, and we have not focused enough on the weakening of Iran itself, Bennett said, adding that there has now been a change in Israels way of thinking.We are in a continuous campaign to weaken the Iranian octopus. On the economic level, political, intelligence, military, and others,he explained. When [an] octopuss arms beat you, dont fight back with only your arms, but strangle the head. And so it is with Iran.The new Iran Command will be led by a major general and will be dedicated to and focused on analyzing threats posed by the Islamic Republic and planning Israels campaign against it.The plan will bolster the IDFs attack capabilities, including improved technological means for IAF jets to destroy enemy targets, increasing the militarys intelligence superiority; expanding its intelligence gathering on the Islamic Republic, including by satellites; and bolstering Israels cyber capabilities, both defensive and offensive.

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Bennett: We identified signs that Iran is recalculating plans in Syria - The Jerusalem Post