On February 21, 2020, Iran held parliamentary elections with a second-round scheduled to be held on April 17, 2020. However, these plans have changed due to the scale of a coronavirus outbreak in the country. Two days ago, Abbasali Kadkhodaei, the spokesman for the Guardian Council of Constitution announced that the second round of parliamentary elections in Iran will be held on September 11, 2020, instead.
A Look at The Numbers in Iran
Iran has the highest number of outbreaks in the Middle East and the third highest in the world with over 14,991 infections and 853 deaths. Twenty-three members of the Parliament have been confirmed to have the virus, the director of medical emergency services is infected and the vice president has also confirmed being infected.
A former diplomat and a senior adviser to the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, have died since then. Hadi Khosroshahi, Iran’s former ambassador to the Vatican, and Ahmad Tuyserkani, an adviser to Iran’s judiciary chief, have also died along with some lawmakers.
How Did It Get This Bad?
Speaking to the Guardian, a public health professor, Dr Amir Afkhami, said: “Tehran’s lack of transparency and unwillingness to take robust measures such as social distancing and quarantine, particularly at the epicentre of the outbreak, helped spread the virus.”
He also added that because China is a principal commercial partner for the Iranian government, adequate restrictions and monitoring were not implemented for Chinese travellers coming into Iran. Aside from a lack of transparency, and government hiding information on the scale of the spread of the virus, Iranian citizens believe the US sanctions are contributing to putting a lot of pressure on Iran’s public health sector which is now struggling to take in more people at clinics and does not expect any help from the US.
Washington Post reports that although Iran has one of the best medical services in the middle east, its hospitals appear to be overwhelmed and authorities have asked for 172 million masks from abroad. It also has asked the International Monetary Fund for $5 billion, the first such loans for Iran since 1962.
A total of 24.512 million people, about 42.57% participated in the February 21 elections. This is far below the average voter turnout in Iran- 64.19%. In the capital Tehran, reports say only 26.2% of eligible voters participated in the polls.
