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The official COVlD-19 death toll in Iran has risen to 237 people today as the U.S.-Iranian diplomatic standoff continues to slow down international cooperation to fight the new coronavirus disease.

The Trump administration quietly loosened sanctions on the Iranian banking system to allow for humanitarian trade and offered the Iranian government help in dealing with COVID-19 at the end of February. But the diplomatic breakthrough was short-lived, as Iran has rejected the U.S. offer and U.S. sanctions continue to throw up obstacles in the path of Irans pandemic response.

The restrictions on the central bank imposed in September had created tremendous uncertainty for companies that relied on [humanitarian exemptions] for the export of food, agricultural commodities, medicines, or medical devices to Iran, the law firm Hogan Lovells explained in a March 5 memo to its clients, so the Trump administrations measures indicate an effort on the part of the U.S. Government to facilitate humanitarian trade with Iran.

Its not like theyre doing nothing, explained sanctions lawyer Erich Ferrari, but a lot of this is [the Trump administrations] own doing. Theyre trying to reduce the negative effects of their own actions.

On February 27, the U.S. Treasury had loosened U.S. legal restrictions on the Central Bank of Iran, which had prevented Iran from importing coronavirus test kits and other medicines and medical devices. The next day, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered direct assistance to the Iranian government.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi denounced Pompeos offer of direct support, calling it a ridiculous claim and a political and psychological play and condemning U.S. economic terrorism in a March 2 interview with the state-run Mehr News Agency.

We hope that the government of Iran will heed our offers of humanitarian assistance and medical supplies, Pompeo reiterated to reporters on Friday. But a State Department spokesperson confirmed to the National Interest on Monday that Iran has turned down the U.S. offer of assistance both publicly and privately.

But the humanitarian exemption continues to exclude certain goods. Suppliers need a license to sell certain medical devices, including full-face respirators and certain decontamination systems. It took the U.S. Treasury an average of 77 days to approve and 177 days to deny a license for medical devices, according to statistics released for last year.

The National Interest asked Brian Hook, the State Department official in charge of Iranian affairs, on February 28 whether the Trump administration would consider expanding the humanitarian exemptions to include medical devices like respirators and decontamination equipment.

I think that what you described is something that we will be taking a hard look at, he responded at the briefing, hosted by Al Monitor. We are looking at what we can do, but the president right now is focused very much on the American people, but we can do two things at the same time. Were looking at what we can do to help.

We have no new policy announcements at this time, a State Department spokesperson told the National Interest on Monday.

Ferrari added that the U.S. Treasurys guidance to the public is just pointing them to a bunch of regulations, and said that the Trump administration could make it more clear what kind of business with Iran is allowed.

When you actually get into the details of compliance, it is still a minefield, said Peter Harrell, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security who specializes in sanctions law.

If youre selling $75 million of medical supplies, its worth navigating the minefield, he added.For smaller transactions, it can make it uneconomical.

U.S. sanctions law also categorically bans selling medical devices to the Iranian military and police. Harrell emphasizes that this is a balanced approach because government-run civilian hospitals are still exempt from the sanctions.

But the Iranian military has muscled its way to the front lines of the coronavirus response, and the ban on selling to security forces imposes enhanced due diligence requirements on exporters, according to the Hogan Lovells memo.

The biggest issue is not so much whether or not sanctions are in the immediate term making it impossible for Irans public health sector to respond to the virus, said Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, founder and publisher of Bourse & Bazaar, an organization that tracks developments in Irans economy.

Batmanghelidj said that pre-existing stocks of medical goods should be enough in the short-term but that Iran could run into shortages if the epidemic continues for a long period of time.

The situation inside Iran is currently worseningand officials have hinted that the true death toll of the pandemic is far greater than the official number.

Iranian officials announced two new measures on Monday to slow the spread of COVID-19. The judiciary announced that it would be furloughing seventy thousand prisoners. Irans religious head Ayatollah Ali Khamenei canceled his plans to address the nation on Irans spring solstice holiday, which is also New Years Day for Iranians.

Iranian health ministry official Mohammad Hossein Qorbani told reporters on Sunday that over two hundred people had died of COVID-19 in the northern province of Gilan, greater than the total nationwide death toll published earlier that day.

I didnt say that all these deaths were because of the coronavirus, he added, amidst accusations of a coverup. It is possible that many of these individuals had underlying respiratory illnesses.

Video shared on social media showed a crowd of locals that day setting up an impromptu checkpoint in Mazandaran, another northern province, aimed at keeping tourists out of the coastal region.

Ahmad Lashaki, a member of parliament from Mazandaran, was caught on tape begging Iranian presidential advisor Mahmud Vaezi to quarantine the province.

The people of Mazandaran are being annihilated. They are closing the roads, he said. Please, close the paths for one week until the situation becomes stable and normal.

Matthew Petti is a national security reporter at the National Interest. Follow him on Twitter: @Matthew_Petti.

Image: Reuters

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Coronavirus: The Deadly New U.S.-Iran Standoff - The National Interest

GENEVA - A report submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council Monday documents the harsh treatment and abusive conditions of detention facing activists and opponents of the Iranian government.

Evidence documented in the U.N. report suggests that Iran brooks no dissent and that those who commit acts that displease the government will be harshly punished.

Arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned

U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, Javaid Rehman, notes people who have peacefully protested for better economic conditions have been arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned.Others detained include Iranian women who have protested against wearing the veil, human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists and those who seemingly oppose the government.

He says ethnic and religious minorities also are among a long list of dissidents who run afoul of the Iranian authorities and are often imprisoned. Rehman says he is deeply concerned about what he considers to be sub-human conditions of detention. He says the frequent use of solitary confinement and the use of torture to extract forced confessions are alarming.

Overcrowding, poor nutrition and a lack of hygiene are also serious concerns.These issues indicate a high risk to prisoners health from malnutrition and disease.Recent reports indicate that the COVID-19 virus has spread inside Iranian prisons.

The latest report by the World Health Organization puts the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Iran at 5,823, including 145 deaths.

Death sentences for children

The U.N. investigator also expresses dismay that children are still being sentenced to death.He notes international law absolutely prohibits applying the death penalty to juvenile offenders.And yet, he says, two Iranian boys aged 17 were executed last year and more than 100 child offenders reportedly are on death row.

He urges Iran to uphold its human rights obligations and to bring detention conditions and practices up to international standards.

Iranian Ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva Esmacil Bagbace Hamanch dismisses the report as another targeted display of abusive misinformation about the state of human rights in his country.

He describes the report as a patchwork of sporadic cases of alleged violations with the help of biased sources.He says the report is far from being a faithful reflection of Irans continuing progress in the realm of human rights.

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UN: Government Opponents, Activists in Iran Face Harsh Punishment - Voice of America

GENEVA (9 March 2020) Individuals detained in Iranian detention facilities are suffering from serious human rights violations and the situation of those arrested during the November 2019 protests is a subject of particular concern, said a UN expert in his latest report presented to the Human Rights Council.

Javaid Rehman, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, also highlighted that significant economic challenges in the country, worsened by sanctions, are having a significant impact on economic and social rights.

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I am concerned that the effect of sanctions has resulted in serious shortages of medication and medical equipment, including for rare and life-threatening conditions, Rehman said. I urge the countries imposing sanctions and the international community as a whole to take all measures to mitigate the negative impact of sanctions on human rights, especially the right to health.

The UN expert also stressed his concern that the Iranian Governments long-standing violations of the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association persist. Making specific reference to the Iranian authorities unprecedented lethal response to nationwide protests in November 2019, he reiterated his call for an independent and impartial investigation of the events and for perpetrators to be held accountable.

During these protests, authorities used excessive force against individuals protesting fuel price rises and economic hardship, including aiming live ammunition at the head and organs. At least 300 people were killed, including over 20 children, a horrific violation of the right to life that I condemn in the strongest terms, he said.

Concerns about detained protesters relate to Rehmans findings on detention conditions and related fair trial rights. Detention conditions are below international standards set out in the Nelson Mandela Rules, while due process guarantees are also often violated. The Special Rapporteur is also alarmed at the prevalence of forced confessions due to torture, denial of medical treatment and other ill-treatment.

While using confessions extracted through torture as evidence is prohibited under Iranian law, in practice forced confessions are frequently used as the sole basis for convictions, the expert said.

Overcrowding, poor nutrition and a lack of hygiene are also serious concerns. These issues indicate a high risk to prisoners health from malnutrition and disease. Recent reports indicate that the COVID-19 virus has spread inside Iranian prisons.

Rehman expressed particular concern that some individuals detained during protests are reportedly being tortured to extract confessions, and that some have received harsh sentences, including the death penalty.

Other issues highlighted in his report include the arbitrary detention of womens rights advocates, human rights defenders, lawyers, cultural workers and dual and foreign nationals; discrimination against minorities; and the continued execution of child offenders despite its strict prohibition under international human rights law.

The UN expert noted progress in certain areas, such as the new nationality law that allows Iranian mothers to pass on their citizenship to their children in most cases. Rehman also welcomed the Governments increased engagement with international human rights mechanisms, including participation in the November 2019 universal periodic review and cooperation with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Javaid Rehman was appointed as Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the UN Human Rights Council in July 2018. He is a Professor of International Human Rights Law and Muslim Constitutionalism at Brunel University, London. Mr Rehman teaches human rights law and Islamic law and continues to publish extensively in the subjects of international human rights law, Islamic law and constitutional practices of Muslim majority States.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Councils independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights, Country Page Iran

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Iran: UN expert alarmed by detention conditions in the wake of recent protests - YubaNet

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah's travel restrictions have been extended to Iran and Italy with immediate effect from Tuesday (March 10), in view of the worsening Covid-19 outbreak.

Sabah state secretary Datuk Safar Untong said nationals from these two countries would not be allowed to enter Sabah via air, sea or land.

Foreigners, regardless of nationalities, and Malaysians who are non-residents of Sabah with recent travel history to Iran and Italy within the last 14 days would not be allowed in as well.

He said any Sabahan, permanent resident or resident of Sabah under work pass, student pass, long-term social visit pass or any exemption order, returning from Iran and Italy would be subjected to a compulsory 14-day home quarantine.

Safar said all Iranian and Italians who were still in Sabah would be advised to depart or return before expiry of their visa.

"If they wish to extend their expiring visa, they might only be allowed a one-time visa extension to a maximum of seven days," he said.

Prior to these, all flights to and from China and from Korea had been banned to control the spread of Covid-19.

In Sabah, a total of 124 people have been tested for Covid-19 but all have turned out to be negative as of March 10.

From these, 92 are Malaysians (seven in Sabah), 26 China nationals, and one each from Jordan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Korea, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

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Sabah bans travellers from Iran and Italy - The Star Online

WASHINGTON A Minnesota woman who worked as a translator for the military in Iraq was charged on Wednesday with providing highly classified information to an Iran-backed militia group. Prosecutors said she intensified her espionage as tensions between the United States and Iran increased in recent months.

Prosecutors said the contractor, Mariam Taha Thompson, 61, revealed to a Lebanese man with ties to Hezbollah the names of foreign informants and details of the information they provided to the United States. The identities of such informants are among the governments most closely held secrets, and law enforcement officials said Ms. Thompson endangered the lives of the sources as well as those of military personnel.

The officials suggested that the potential loss of classified information was grave and that the prosecution was one of the most serious recent counterintelligence cases they had seen. Several top national security prosecutors as well as the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Timothy Shea, appeared in court on Wednesday as Ms. Thompson made an initial appearance before a judge, demonstrating the importance of the case.

If true, this conduct is a disgrace, especially for someone serving as a contractor with the United States military, John C. Demers, the assistant attorney general for national security, said in a statement. This betrayal of country and colleagues will be punished.

The recruitment of a military contractor with access to such important secrets shows the strength of the intelligence operations of Iran and its proxy forces. American officials have long warned that Tehrans intelligence work should not be underestimated.

In interviews with the F.B.I., Ms. Thompson admitted to investigators that she illegally shared classified information with the Lebanese official, according to court papers. Ms. Thompson appeared in court dressed in a red cardigan, her gray-streaked hair in a bun, but was not shackled. The judge ordered her held until a detention hearing on March 11.

She faces three charges of violating espionage laws. Under the statute, she could face up to life in prison and possibly the death penalty if the information she revealed led to the death of any of the informants.

Ms. Thompson was living in Erbil, Iraq, working on contract as a linguist. As tensions between the United States and Iran increased in the final days of December, investigators discovered, Ms. Thompsons activity on classified systems did as well. For the next six weeks, she accessed secret government files that contained the true names and photographs of American intelligence sources and government cables that outlined the information they provided to their handlers.

Ms. Thompsons purported espionage was discovered Dec. 30, days after American airstrikes on Hezbollahs Iraqi arm and shortly before the killing of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani of Iran in a Jan. 3 drone attack that was a serious escalation of President Trumps growing confrontation with Iran.

The suspected leaks of classified information came at a critical time when Iranian proxy forces, like Hezbollah in Lebanon, were looking for ways to retaliate for the killing of General Suleimani, the architect of nearly every significant operation by Iranian intelligence and military forces over the past two decades.

Investigators searched Ms. Thompsons living quarters on Feb. 19 and discovered a handwritten note under her mattress listing the names of informants. The note, written in Arabic, also included a warning to a military target affiliated with Hezbollah whom prosecutors did not name and a request for the informants phones to be monitored.

Ms. Thompson told investigators that she provided classified information by memorizing it, writing it down, then showing the note to the Lebanese man when they spoke by video chat on her mobile phone.

The man took a screenshot of their video chat that showed her displaying a handwritten note with the name of two informants, court papers showed. Investigators also found pictures of the Lebanese Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, on the mans phone.

The disclosures by Ms. Thompson did not affect the timing of the drone strike on General Suleimani, suggesting that he was not the target that she provided information about to the man. According to government documents, Ms. Thompson had a romantic interest in the Lebanese man with whom she shared the classified secrets.

The mans nephew worked for the Lebanese governments interior ministry, according to court documents released Wednesday. While the current minister of the interior is not a member of Hezbollah, he has good relations with the group. Hezbollah is part of the Lebanese government, and the United States considers it a terrorist organization.

The American military has taken steps to protect the informants whose identities Ms. Thompson revealed, according to a government official. It was unclear why their identifying information was accessible to her, raising questions about whether the military took adequate steps to protect the sources who risked their lives to work for the United States.

Former law enforcement and intelligence officials expressed surprise at the ease with which Ms. Thompson managed to gather details about informants, noting that the F.B.I. and C.I.A. make such information about their own sources extremely difficult to access.

Prosecutors did not disclose the relative importance of the informants, but even low-level sources are critical to the United States in understanding the activities and plans of Iranian proxy groups. If Ms. Thompsons disclosures compromised that network, it could complicate the militarys ability to protect its forces and stop attacks.

The Pentagon pledged to cooperate with the Justice Department during its investigation, said a spokeswoman, Alyssa Farah. She said military officials were taking all necessary precautions, including the protection of U.S. forces.

The charges against Ms. Thompson were the latest in a string of espionage cases as the government doubled down on its counterintelligence focus, seeking to stop the flow of American secrets overseas.

A little over a year ago, the government charged a former Air Force counterintelligence agent, Monica Elfriede Witt, with sharing secrets with the government of Iran, including the names of agents run by military intelligence whose covers were blown and the identities of her former co-workers.

Ms. Witt defected to Iran and remains beyond the reach of law enforcement officials.

But the government has brought to trial a number of other former intelligence officers, some of whom were charged with spying for China.

In November, Jerry Chun Shing Lee, a former C.I.A. officer, was sentenced to 19 years in prison for conspiring to deliver classified information to China. His disclosures occurred around the time that the C.I.A.s informant network in China was collapsing, though prosecutors did not accuse him of involvement in the destruction of the spy network.

In May, another former C.I.A. officer, Kevin Patrick Mallory, was sentenced to 20 years after he was charged with spying for China. Mr. Mallory was accused of providing Beijing the names of sources who had helped the American government.

A third China case involved a contractor for the Defense Intelligence Agency, Ron Rockwell Hansen, who was sentenced in September to 10 years in prison.

Eric Schmitt contributed reporting.

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Translator Accused of Revealing U.S. Secrets Amid Tensions With Iran - The New York Times