Feb 25, 2020

Iran is closer to an effective shutdown amid a worsening coronavirus epidemic that was first reported last Wednesday in the city of Qom, the center of its powerful clergy and home to much-visited holy shrines. As of Feb. 26, the official death toll from the country’s Health Ministry stood at 19, a figure likely to jump as suspected cases approach the 1,000 mark in at least 11 affected provinces.

The figures differ widely in various reports. Ahmad Ami-Abadi, one of the lawmakers representing Qom in Iran's parliament, claimed that the toll was well above 50, pressing the Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi to resign. Harirchi has sparked fury by rejecting demands for imposing a full quarantine on Qom, describing such measures as outdated World War I practices. The health official himself has now tested positive, a sign that others could already be in the same boat following back-to-back meetings and joint pressers.

“We will definitely kill the disease in the weeks to come,” Harirchi vowed with a raised fist in a viral video after officially joining the list of confirmed cases. “This virus does not differentiate between authorities and ordinary people, [but] we do possess the remedy.”

Hours later, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a Reformist lawmaker and a vocal civil rights defender, came out with a similar message about his positive test. On Twitter, he also urged Iran’s judiciary leader Ibrahim Raeesi to order the temporary release of political detainees to protect them from a possible outbreak inside the prisons.

Earlier, the mayor of Tehran’s district 13 was among the first to be diagnosed. According to the latest reports, the Qom-based top Shiite cleric Ayatollah Shobeiri Zanjani has been quarantined after a member of his close circle, another cleric, died from the disease.