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The Covid-19 pandemic has infected over 218,000 people globally and has not discriminated on the basis of political class or ranking.

Elected officials, cabinet members, clerics and vice presidents from Australia to Iran to the United States have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Here is a rundown of confirmed Covid-19 cases of policymakers and public officials across the globe.

Iran

The country has highest number of cases after China and Italy (+17,000), and is seeing a number of clerics and officials test positive. Some have died, while others are still hospitalised or in quarantine.

1- Ayatollah Hashem Bathayi Golpayegani, member of the Assembly of Experts, died this month

2- Hossein Sheikholeslam, advisor to Irans foreign minister, died this month

3- Hadi Khosroshahi, a prominent cleric and former ambassador to the Vatican, died this month

4- Seyyed Mohammad Mir Mohammadi, member of the Expediency Council, died this month

5- Mohammad Ali Ramezani, member of Parliament, died this month

6- Mojtaba Pourkhanali, an agriculture ministry official, died this month

7- Mojtaba Fazeli, an adviser to a senior cleric, died this month

8- Ali Akbar Velayati, top adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, tested positive

9- Eshaq Jahangiri, Vice President, tested positive

10- Ali Asghar Mounesan, minister of cultural heritage, tested positive

11- Reza Rahmani, minister of industry, tested positive

12- Massoumeh Ebtekar, Vice President, tested positive

13- Mojtaba Zolnour, member of Parliament, tested positive

14- Mahmoud Sadeghi, member of Parliament, tested positive

15- Iraj Harirchi, deputy health minister, tested positive

16- Morteza Rahmanzadeh, mayor of a Tehran district, tested positive

17- Mohamad Reza Ghadir, head of Covid-19 management in Qom, tested positive

18- Mahmoud Sadeghi, member of the parliament, tested positive

19- Mojtaba Zonnour, head of Iran's parliamentary security and foreign relations commission, tested positive

20- Grand ayatollah Musa Shobairi Zanjani, tested positive

Medical staff push a patient on a gurney to a waiting medical helicopter at the Emile Muller hospital in Mulhouse, eastern France. AFP

An Indian man shows his stamped hand, indicating that the person is under 'home quarantine', in Mumbai, India. EPA

Judie Shape, centre, who has tested positive for the coronavirus, but isn't showing symptoms, presses her hand against her window after a visit through the window and on the phone with her daughter Lori Spencer, left, and her son-in-law Michael Spencer, at the Life Care Center in Kirkland. AP Photo

A single worshipper wearing a surgical mask sits on a pew in Westminster Cathedral in central London. AFP

People confined at their homes sing and dance from their windows to bolster themselves up during a lockdown in Madrid. AFP

A person walks on the deserted Passerelle du Palais de Justice in Lyon, central eastern France as a strict lockdown comes into in effect. AFP

Soldiers stand guard on road leading to a quarantine faciltity for people returning from Iran via the Pakistan-Iran border town of Taftan, in Sukkur in southern Sindh province. AFP

A passenger wearing protective clothing uses a self check-in machine at Incheon international airport, west of Seoul. AFP

Workers cheer themselves after loading travellers onto buses outside the New China International Exhibition Centre, near Beijing Capital Airport in Beijing. AFP

A nurse wearing a facemask walks outside the entrance of Sri Lanka's Infectious Diseases Hospital near Colombo. AFP

People queue for groceries at a supermarket in Singapore. AFP

A medical worker tests a person for the coronavirus at a drive-through facility primarily for first responders and medical personnel in San Antonio. AP Photo

A robot, developed by a start-up firm Asimov Robotics, holds a tray with face masks and sanitiser after the two robots were launched to spread awareness about the coronavirus, in Kochi, India, March 17, 2020. Reuters

Brazil

In South America, Brazil has currently the highest number of cases (509). Following a trip to the United States and a meeting with US President Donald Trump in Florida, at his Mar-a-Lago resort, 16 members of the Brazilian delegation have tested positive, according to Bloomberg. The countrys President Jair Bolsonaro said he had tested negative, despite initial reports saying he had the virus. These names have tested positive:

1- David Alcolumbre, Head of Brazil Senate, tested positive

2- Nestor Forster, Brazils top US diplomat, tested positive

3- Augusto Heleno, National Security Minister, tested positive

4- Fabio Wajngarten, press secretary for the President, tested positive

5- Bento Albuquerque , Minister of Mines and Energy, tested positive

Argentina's Ambassador to Venezuela Eduardo Porreti tested positive for coronavirus.

In the United States, Florida has seen most cases of public officials infected with the virus. The positive cases of lawmakers are:

1- Miami mayor Francis Suarez, tested positive

2- Diaz Balart, Congressman, tested positive

3- Ben McAdams, Congressman from Utah, tested positive

In Canada, the spouse of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife, Sophie Grgoire Trudeau, has tested positive.

In Europe, the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez tested positive for the coronavirus as the country went into lockdown. The countrys Minister of Equality and the Minister of Regional Affairs also tested positive. Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias stirred controversy on Saturday when he attended a Cabinet meeting, despite his partner being infected with the virus.

The first public figure in Ukraine to test positive was member of parliament Serhiy Shakhov. On Wednesday, he initially denied that he tested positive, but hours later admitted he had the disease.

British Junior Health Minister Nadine Dorres tested positive, as well as French Culture Minister Franck Riester.

Friedrich Merz, a candidate for chairman of Angela Merkel's conservative party CDU, is infected by the virus.

Out of every European country, Italy has been worst impacted by the outbreak, where it has killed nearly 2,978 people - nearly as much as in China. Italian MP Claudio Pedrazzini was the country's first parliamentarian to be diagnosed. Nicola Zingaretti, the leader of Italian governing coalitions Democratic Party also tested positive.

In Asia, Philippines senator Juan Miguel "Migz" Fernndez Zubiri, tested positive for the disease, local media reported.

Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton also tested positive.

Updated: March 19, 2020 12:07 PM

See the original post:
Coronavirus: from Iran to Brazil, a growing list of politicians test positive - The National

Japan will ask travelers from Europe as well as Egypt and Iran to self-quarantine for 14 days after their arrival in an attempt to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday.

The temporary measure from Saturday to the end of April will target all travelers from 38 countries, Abe told a meeting of a government task force on the coronavirus.

During the two-week period, visitors from the targeted countries will be asked not to use public transportation in Japan.

The Foreign Ministry will invalidate visas already issued to people from the 38 countries, also covering the period from Saturday to the end of April.

From Thursday, Japan also strengthened its border controls by imposing an entry ban on people coming from parts of Spain, Switzerland and Italy as well as all of Iceland.

Foreign travelers who have been to the areas within 14 days of arrival in Japan will be refused entry for the time being, Abe said without elaborating.

Given the situation of the spread of infection, we decided we would need to further enhance quarantine for 38 nations, including European countries under the Schengen agreement, Abe said at the Cabinet-level meeting.

Foreign and Japanese travelers coming from the countries will be urged to stay at places designated by a quarantine officer for 14 days and to refrain from using public transportation. There will be no specific enforcement measures.

Countries under the Schengen agreement are Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Other countries subject to quarantine are Andorra, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Ireland, Monaco, Romania, San Marino, the United Kingdom, and Vatican City.

Japan is scrambling to prevent a surge in domestic infections with the Tokyo Olympics roughly four months away. The viral outbreak has led countries around the world to impose travel restrictions, casting a pall over the global economy.

The latest steps mirror those already taken for travelers from China and South Korea, both hit hard by the pandemic.

As the number of cases has topped 200,000 globally, Abe called on Japanese citizens to exercise caution if they plan to go overseas, issuing a Level 1 warning, the lowest, for the rest of the world.

For Iceland and parts of some regions in Italy, Spain and Switzerland, which are subject to the entry ban, Japan has already warned its citizens to avoid all travel by raising the alert to Level 3.

The ban covers the northern Italian regions of Valle dAosta, Trentino-Alto Adige, Fruili-Venezia Giulia and Liguria. Also included are the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Basel-Stadt, along with the Spanish provinces of Madrid and La Rioja as well as Navarre and the Basque Country.

The focus of the outbreak that began in China in December has shifted to Europe, triggering unprecedented steps by the European Union, which promotes the free movement of goods and people. The United States has already restricted travel from the continent.

EU leaders agreed Tuesday to impose a 30-day restriction on nonessential travel to the bloc to limit the spread of the virus. Italy, hit by the largest number of infections after China, has already imposed a nationwide lockdown.

French President Emmanuel Macron has ordered people in France to stay at home for up to 15 days.

COVID-19 has infected more than 71,000 people and killed over 3,330 across Europe, the majority in hard-hit Italy, Spain and France.

The World Health Organization called for bold action to be taken against the pandemic on the continent, the outbreaks new epicenter.

In Japan, the government has called for the scaling back or cancellation of major events, as well as school closures.

Everything from soccer matches and concerts have been affected, while the spring sumo tournament is being held behind closed doors.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has also urged residents to refrain from joining parties at parks during the cherry blossom season.

The Foreign Ministry has detailed its recent steps in English on its website: http://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page6e_000199.html.

Link:
Japan to ask all travelers arriving from Europe, Egypt and Iran to self-quarantine - The Japan Times

If Irans leaders thought things couldnt get worse, they were wrong. The country faces three simultaneous crises: a public health emergency that is worsening by the hour, tensions with the United States that have once again grown in the past few days, and an economic picture that could go from troubled to dire in a matter of months.

The confluence of a coronavirus pandemic, security threats, and financial troubles has deepened the political systems legitimacy crisis in the wake of last months parliamentary elections that saw the lowestturnoutin the Islamic Republics history. Washington might view this as a validation of its so-called maximum pressure strategy against Tehran, but if it fails to capitalize on this moment to de-escalate tensions and lay the groundwork for a mutually beneficial diplomatic settlement, the leadership in Tehran is likely to become more aggressive in the region, increasing the risk of a conflict that neither side appears to want.

Since the dramaticescalationsof late 2019 and early 2020, which culminated in the killing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qassem Suleimani and Iranian missile strikes on Iraqi bases hosting U.S. forces, both Iran and the United States appeared content to return to their respective corners.

But there has been a steady stream of incidents in Iraq, with at least seven attacks near U.S. diplomatic facilities insideBaghdads Green Zone and U.S. military installations in Iraq throughout January and February. These attacks spiked on March 11 following a barrage of rockets that killed three members of the U.S.-led coalition, including two Americans, and injured more than a dozen others at an Iraqi army base, Camp Taji, north of Baghdad.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper subsequentlyassessedthat Iranian-backed Shiite militia groups were responsible. Secretary of State Mike Pompeowarnedthat those responsible must be held accountable. A day later, the United Statesretaliatedagainst an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia in Iraq, which in turnfiredmore rockets into Camp Taji on March 14 and again on March 17.

This latest moment of peril is playing out against the backdrop of a dramatic COVID-19 outbreak in Iran, which has the third-highestnumberof confirmed cases and fatalities anywhere in the world. The Iranian government was slow inresponding to the outbreak; and when it finally realized its scale and scope, Tehran was hampered by shortages caused by sanctions. Moreover, the government has kept a worryingly tight grip on the information flow to save face, prompting fears that the death tollcurrently listed as 988is probably muchhigherthan the official figures suggest.

With Tehrans initial response being dismissive of the risks of the viruss spread and slow to mobilize against it, the government is now pleading for international assistance. Having already scored several calamitous own goals in recent monthsraising fuel prices with little warning in November 2019, then violently suppressing subsequent protests, and in January downing a Ukrainian civilian airliner in the apparent belief it was an incoming U.S. missilethe governments response to the coronavirus crisis could increase the populations sense that its leadership is incompetent.

Meanwhile, the impact of the rapidly spreading disease and collapse in oil prices will likely present almost unprecedented challenges to an economy that is already beset by government mismanagement and under siege from U.S. sanctions.

One Iranian officialcalculateda drop of 18 percent in trade as a result of the pandemicand that was before Iraq, a key regional trade partner, announced a fullclosureof the two countries common land borders and the price of crude tumbled below $30 per barrel. (While Irans exports have been blocked by the United States since April 2019, it has continued to make sales to China, albeit at sharply reducedlevels.) The combination of reduced regional trade, evaporation of remaining oil revenue, and COVID-19simpacton domestic business could prove catastrophic.

But that doesnt mean that Tehran will bow to U.S. pressure and back down. Indeed, since May 2019, when the Iranian government chose to counter U.S. maximum pressure with a blend of nuclear and regional provocations, the systems hard-liners have contended that high-risk brinkmanship yields greater dividends than restraint.

The coronavirus outbreak has now put more pressure on the leaderships calculus. Feeling besieged and with no obvious diplomatic exit ramp, Iran might conclude that only a confrontation with the United States might change a trajectory thats heading in a very dangerous direction. This isalso the view of Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, whotoldCongress on March 10 that the outbreak probably makes them, in terms of decision-making, more dangerous rather than less dangerous.

With U.S. President Donald Trump focused on the domestic economic and electoral effects of the coronavirus and the Iranian leadership highly reluctant to display any weakness to the United States, neither side is likely in the mood to engage the other.

That would be a missed opportunity. Indeed, both Washington and Tehran have floated ideas that, if acted upon, could break the current vicious cycle. Pompeo hasurgedthe Iranian governmentwhich furloughed tens of thousands of convictsdue to fears of an epidemic in prisonsto free U.S. prisoners and other dual and foreign nationals on humanitarian grounds. The death of any of those inmates from COVID-19 would be a stain Iran might find hard to erase.

Conversely, Iran hasaskedthe International Monetary Fund for emergency funding and a substantiallistof essential equipment ranging from gloves and masks to portable respiration and X-ray machines. If the Trump administration stands in the way of such basic needsby voting against an IMF loan to Iranthe United States would find it hard to overcome the impression that it had acted inhumanely.

The most logical and mutually beneficial outcome would be a two-phased humanitarian de-escalation. Iran would need to first agree to furlough all detained foreigners as the U.S. facilitates the transfer of medicine and medical equipment Iran needs to contain the outbreak and save lives without any sanctions-relateddelays.

In the second phase, the U.S. government could agree not to block the IMF loan to Iran while Tehran freezes its nuclear escalation and reins in its allied groups in Iraq, preventing any further attacks on U.S. forces and assets. This phase could also comprise another prisoner swap, either on par with the one-for-one exchange that happened back inDecemberor, even better, a broader exchange of prisoners. This would be a win-win: putting tensions with Iran on ice, providing Trump with another success in his efforts to free Americans detained abroad, and providing Tehran with some economic reprieve and the means to save lives at home.

Since 2018, when the Trump administration pulled out of the nuclear deal with Iran, Washington and Tehran have been on a collision course pitting unrealistic U.S. demands against Iranian inflexibility. For either side to let a possible diplomatic off-ramp pass by would mean that a dangerous and deadly situation might again take a turn for the worse.

Read more from the original source:
Faced With the Coronavirus, the United States and Iran Must Use Humanitarian Diplomacy to Dial Down Tensions - Foreign Policy

An Iranian national was extradited to Texas after allegedly exporting military sensitive items to Iran between 2007 and 2011, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.

Merdad Ansari, an Iranian citizen and a resident of the United Arab Emirates, arrived in San Antonio, Texas, on Saturday evening, the DOJ said in a statement. Ansari, 38, faces federal charges in connection with an alleged scheme to give military sensitive items to Iranin violation of the Iranian tradeembargo.

Ansari and his co-defendant, Mehrdad Foomanie, who remains a fugitive, were charged in June 2012 with conspiracy to violate the Iranian Transactions Regulations (ITR), conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The ITR prohibits the sale of any goods from the U.S. or by a U.S. citizen to Iran.

The parts thepair allegedly sold or attempted to sell were considered dual-use for military and civilian capability and used for systems like nuclear weapons, missile guidance and development, secure tactical radio communications, offensive electronic warfare, military electronic counter measures and radar warning and surveillance systems, the DOJ said.

As alleged, the defendant helped Iran to develop its weapons programs by obtaining military parts in violation of the Iranian Trade Embargo, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said in a statement.

FBI San Antonio Division Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs also thanked the government in the former Soviet republic of Georgia for supporting the extradition.

Foomanie allegedly bought or attempted to buy U.S. items and planned to have them shipped to Iran through his Hong Kong, Chinese and Iranian companies.

Between Oct. 9, 2007, and June 15, 2011, the defendants received or attempted to receive more than 105,000 partswith an estimated cost of $2,630,800, according to the Justice Department.

Foomanie and Ansari could face up to45 years in federal prison if convicted on all the charges.

A third co-defendant, Susan Yip, also known as Susan Yeh, who is a citizen of Taiwan, was sentenced to two years in federal prison in October 2012 after pleading guilty to attempting to violate the ITR and helping Foomanie buy items to send to Iran.

Continued here:
Iranian national extradited to Texas after allegedly exporting 'military sensitive items' to Iran | TheHill - The Hill

If you listened closely this week,behind theterrifyingclamor of Covid-19 sweeping across the planet, you mightve heard the sound of war nearly breaking out again between the United States and Iran.

OnWednesday, thebirthday ofassassinatedIranian Gen. Qassim Suleimani, a barrage of rocketsslammed into the Camp Taji airbase north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. The attack killed two Americans and a Briton, while wounding 14 others. A day later, U.S. forces in Iraq hit back, carrying outairstrikesagainst Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia that it blamed for the attack. It isa safe betthat the violence between the United States and Iran will not stop there. Already on Saturday morning, reports emerged of another attack at the same base that wounded three more U.S. service members.

Despite a terrifying pandemic that has overwhelmed entire cities in Iran and now looms over the United States, the crisis between the two countries that began when the Trump administration exited the 2015 Iran nuclear deal shows no sign of abating. The possibility of war in the midst of a global public health crisis is, to put it mildly, outrageous. Iraniansare believed to beamong the most numerous victims ofthe Covid-19pandemic. Their governments decision to risk a conflict at this moment is both mystifying and galling.

ButIrans grim determination to hit back against the United States regardless of its peoples suffering does illustrate an important point. Itputs paid toa majorTrump administration justification for the controversial assassination of Suleimani in a January drone: deterrence.

In the immediate aftermath of Suleimanis killing, Secretary of State Mike PompeotoldCBSs Face the Nation that the entire strategy has been one of deterrence, claiming that the drone strike against the general had sent a decisive message to the Iranian governmentthat would force it to refrain from future acts of aggression.

But if deterrence really was the strategy, its been a resounding failure. Even before this weeks deadly attacks, rockets have continued to periodically rain down on U.S. bases in Iraq, as well as the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Iran has indicated inpublic statementsthat it plans to take what it views as a full revenge for the killing of Quds Force chief Suleimani at a time of its choosing.The deadly attack on Camp Taji suggests that they are not bluffing.

There is historicalcontext to consider as well. Since the 1979 revolution that brought the current government to power, Iran has shown that it is willing to endure a tremendous amount of punishment to achieve its strategic goals.

During Irans war with Iraq in the 1980s, then-Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini continued to battle Saddam Hussein long after his attempted invasion of Iran had been repelled. Hundreds of thousands on both sides were killed over years of grueling World War I-style trench warfare, all in dogged pursuit ofKhomeinisgoal of forcing the Baathists from power and placing an Iran-friendly government in Baghdad. (The Iranians would have to wait until 2003, when the United States graciously accomplished this goal for them.)

Today, even amid a cataclysmic public health crisis that is said to have killed hundreds of Iranians, including several top political and military leaders, the Iranians show no signof relenting on what they view as their primary geopolitical interests. Their continued attacks on American targets in Iraq suggest that they are pushing forwardtoward their main strategic goal: ejecting American troops from Iraq.

In anarticleabout the recent violence, Afshon Ostovar, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School and author of Vanguard of the Imam: Religion, Politics, and Irans Revolutionary Guards, wrote that the Iranian-backed militia attack on Camp Taji and the U.S. military response fits right into the aims of Kataib Hezbollah and Iran.The attacks by U.S. aircraft helpincreasepublic anger in Iraq against U.S. military activity there andlaythe groundwork for a broaderconfrontation thatmightforce the United States to leave for good.

Iran and its Iraqi allies have more Iraqi deaths and destruction to fuel their effort to expel U.S. forces from the country, Ostovar wrote. They also have cause to respond further, if they wish, in order bait the U.S. into additional aggressive acts on Iraqi soil. Yet, doing so would compel the U.S. to respond in kind, and the cycle of escalation would continue toward certain conflict.

Despite its overwhelming military advantages, that would be a conflict the United States would be poorly positioned to win. The U.S. public is already exhausted and disillusioned with years ofseemingly pointlessfightingin the Middle East. Most Americans arealso anxious over the impact of Covid-19 at home and unlikely to be thrilled with the idea of diverting more resources to fighting another war with no clear end goals.

Unlike Iran, where the government wields authoritarian and sometimes brutal power to quell public dissent, the U.S. is constrainedin its capacity to ignore the wishes of its own people.Thats why U.S. officialslike Pompeo have insistently portrayed Suleimanis killing as a way of tamping down violence in Iraq rather than escalating it. Its a disingenuous claim that is getting harder to defend.

The proxy war between theUnited States and Iranlooks certain to continue. It seems that noteven a global health crisiscan stop it.One thing is clear however: Ordinary Iranians, Iraqis, and Americans can ill-affordthis kind of violence right now.

Even before the devastation wrought by Covid-19, Iran was struggling to cope with the consequences of American sanctions. It is in even worse shape today. The United States under Donald Trump, meanwhile, seems ill-prepared for the social and economic upheaval that will accompany a major pandemic on U.S. soil.It doesnt seem like much to ask that U.S. and Iranian leaders postpone their score-settling until the pandemic threat that facesus allcan be brought under control. But eventhatmodest hopemay be out of reach.

See the original post here:
Amid Coronavirus Chaos, U.S. and Iran Edge Closer to War - The Intercept