In a press briefing on Friday, Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima-Sadat Lari reported 6,021 new cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total number of cases to 1,189,203.
So far, Lari added, 933,736 patients have recovered from the disease or been discharged from the hospital.
Lari said 5,345 patients are also in critical conditions caused by more severe infection.
The spokeswoman noted that 7,303,238 COVID-19 tests have been taken across the country so far.
In a tweet, Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote “Donald Trump uses a worthless photo to recklessly accuse Iran.”
“Last time, the US ruined our region over WMD fabrications, wasting $7 trillion and causing 58,976 American casualties,” he added.
“Far worse this time. Trump will bear full responsibility for any adventurism on his way out,” he added.
His comments came after Trump warned Tehran in a Twitter post that he would hold “Iran responsible” in the event of a fatal attack on Americans in Iraq.
“Our embassy in Baghdad got hit Sunday by several rockets,” the US president tweeted earlier on Thursday, adding, “Three rockets failed to launch. Guess where they were from: IRAN.”
He then circulated rumors of “additional attacks” against Americans in Iraq, warning Iran to “think it over.”
Trump was pointing to Sunday’s rocket attack on the US embassy in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. He also attached to his tweet an unauthenticated picture of three rockets.
In his message, President Hassan Rouhani urged the human community to follow Jesus Christ as a role model.
“Jesus Christ was the harbinger of monotheism and a messenger of kindness, altruism, freedom and salvation,” said the president in his message to the leader of the world’s Catholics.
“Reflecting upon the characteristics and virtues of Jesus Christ, and looking up to his demeanour and lifestyle, which was always associated with kindness and tolerance, can help tackle the social and cultural challenges facing humanity today, serve as balm for its sufferings, save man from problems and be a path to human perfection,” he added.
“Thanks to the blessings associated with the birthday of Jesus Christ, I hope the evil COVID-19 virus will be controlled and contained in the Christian New Year and man’s life return to normal, and man’s life will be coupled with redoubled happiness and peace and security will take hold across the world,” the president added.
“I ask God Almighty to bestow health and success on Your Excellency and I wish all people around the world prosperity and dignity,” the president added.
In the Thursday messages, President Hassan Rouhani called for closer cooperation among countries to settle global crises.
“Today’s world is facing numerous social, cultural, economic and political crises. It is necessary that heads of state, by drawing on common will and collaboration, and through regional and global cooperation, endeavour to settle these crises and expedite the trend of fighting the coronavirus pandemic and help bring human life back to its normal trend,” read the messages.
In his messages, President Rouhani underlined that Jesus Christ was a prophet of peace and reconciliation and a flag-bearer of kindness and altruism.
“It is hoped that today’s mankind, especially all followers of divine faiths, draw on the lofty teachings of divine prophets and move on the path to excellence and human perfection by following their demeanour,” the messages read.
The president also wished all nations and their governments a year brimful of health and prosperity.
Aftab-e Yazd Newspaper:
1- Rouhani: Those Who Are Not in a Rush Are Probably Well-Off
2- Iran’s Reduction of Commitments, Law Passed by Parliament Complement Each Other
Arman-e Melli Newspaper:
1- Iran Will Definitely Buy COVID-19 Vaccine
2- Rouhani: To Fight Corruption, Iran Needs to Pass FATF Bills
Ebtekar Newspaper:
1- 2020 Year of World’s Coronavirus Nightmare
2- Iran’s Economic Growth Blocked by FATF Barrier
Etemad Newspaper:
1- Trump Pardons 45 People, 88% of Whom Had Personal Ties with Him
* Granting Clemency to Criminals
2- Elections Overshadowed by Coronavirus
Hamshahri Newspaper:
1- Bam; 17 Years after Earthquake
Iran Newspaper:
1- Other Countries Calling Iran to Restore Ties to Pre-Trump Conditions
Javan Newspaper:
1- Dichotomy of Vaccine/Negotiation Rejected
2- Hair Pulling (Girl Fight) in White House
Jomhouri Eslami Newspaper:
1- World Welcomes Full Implementation of JCPOA
Kayhan Newspaper:
1- FATF Is Cooperation with US Chamber of Commerce, Not the Way to Fight Corruption
2- Truck Drivers Clash in UK as British Virus Causes Severe Shortage of Food
3- Pelosi: I’ll Pull Trump by His Hair and Throw Him Out of White House
4- Senior Russian Officer: 20 Minutes of Meeting with Gen. Soleimani Was Enough to Remember Him Forever
Khorasan Newspaper:
1- Iran to Buy 16m Doses of Vaccine
Mardom Salari Newspaper:
1- US Failure, Isolation at Security Council
2- Europe Confused by British Coronavirus
Shahrvand Newspaper:
1- Return to Pre-Trump Conditions
In a press briefing on Thursday, Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima-Sadat Lari reported 6,178 new cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total number of cases to 1,183,182.
So far, Lari added, 924,685 patients have recovered from the disease or been discharged from the hospital.
Lari said 5,371 patients are also in critical conditions caused by more severe infection.
The spokeswoman noted that 7,253,750 COVID-19 tests have been taken across the country so far.
She said currently 205 cities are in the “orange zone”, and 243 in the “yellow zone” in terms of coronavirus outbreak.
The projects were inaugurated by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who noted these achievements bear witness to Iran’s domestic potential.
He said the inauguration of projects worth more than 280 trillion rials indicates the power of the Iranian nation and amounts to a major blow to hegemonic powers.
“Even if this economic war goes on for 30 years, Iranian people will continue their resistance,” said the president.
He noted more than 70% of the petrochemical projects put into service on Thursday were developed and run by local experts.
“The oil and banking sectors were two key sectors targeted by the enemy on a daily basis during its economic war,” he added.
Rouhani noted US President Donald Trump, who is leading this evil war, is passing the last days of his political life.
He noted Iran’s petrochemical industry as well as a number of its executives had been sanctioned by Trump, but they take pride in being successful despite sanctions.
President Rouhani said Iran is now meeting its needs domestically amid the coronavirus outbreak
During a videoconference call on Wednesday, the two sides discussed the latest political developments in Yemen as well as the dire humanitarian situation in the Arab country.
In their talks, they highlighted the importance of pushing on with mutual cooperation in order to help settle the Yemen crisis politically.
They also underscored that the international community is determined to increase humanitarian aid to Yemeni people, especially at a time when the country is gripped by the coronavirus outbreak.
The Iranian official said the Yemeni National Salvation Government remains committed to its commitments under the Stockholm agreement and is implementing it unilaterally. He lambasted the Saudi Coalition’s failure to keep its side of the bargain under the deal, and expressed hope the international community will adopt measures for the accord to be revived and fully implemented.
He also appreciated efforts by the UN secretary general and his special envoy for Yemen to advance the peace plan in the Arab country.
Khaji further underscored the importance of ending military strikes in order to prevent the worsening of the humanitarian disaster in Yemen.
The Swedish official, in turn, said Tehran and Stockholm have a lot in common and have made attempts to contribute to a political settlement of the Yemen crisis.
He noted Iran and Sweden enjoy great potential to play an active role in resolving the Yemen crisis, calling for closer coordination in that regard.
Abdolnaser Hemmati said Thursday the payment could be made to purchase the virus from abroad now.
“In one of my previous posts, I stressed that US sanctions and the necessity of winning the approval of OFAC (the Office of Foreign Assets Control – which is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the US Treasury Department) had delayed and impeded the procurement of the coronavirus vaccine from COVAX (a global initiative aimed at working with vaccine manufacturers to provide countries worldwide equitable access to safe and effective vaccines),” he said.
“This morning, we received initial agreement to transfer money from an account in a bank (other than the assets of the Central Bank of Iran in South Korea), and accordingly, we issued an order to make the payment,” he added.
“And we keep following up on the issue,” the official added.
“In this phase, the Central Bank of Iran has earmarked €200 million for the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine. If need be, we will provide more finances,” he said.
The central bank governor noted the necessary arrangements have been made with the health ministry in that regard.
“Our dear people should rest assured that the coronavirus vaccine will be purchased and brought in as soon as possible,” Hemmati said.
He underlined that the central bank will also appropriate the required funds to equip the domestic production line for the coronavirus vaccine.
“In addition to allocating foreign currency for buying the coronavirus vaccine, we are also lending the necessary support and logistics in terms of providing forex to procure the equipment needed for the domestic production line for the vaccine, and we have prioritized this issue,” he said.
In a Thursday statement, Khatibzadeh said, “Such rehashed, baseless and fabricated accusations and remarks can be assessed as part of the conventional blames games of the White House aimed at eclipsing the dire situation that Trump is in.”
“As it has been announced time and again, attacking diplomatic and residential areas is rejected, and in this particular case, the finger is pointed at the US itself as well as its partners and allies in the region, which seek to escalate tensions and provoke fresh sedition in the region,” he said, denying the allegations made by Trump and the CENTCOM.
“As we have already said, Iran responds to the United States’ terrorism overtly, bravely and at a proportionate level; so, the US regime had better resort to more believable scenarios in order to justify its sedition-provoking moves,” he said.
Khatibzadeh seriously warned the US president and advised him to avoid creating tensions and dangerous adventurism in his last days in office.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the US government responsible for the consequences and repercussions of any unwise move under the current circumstances,” he said.
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