In a post on his Twitter account, Iran’s Ambassador to Baghdad Iraj Masjedi underscored that the Islamic Republic of Iran respects the law and political system in Iraq.
“Any figure who would be elected as the prime minister (of Iraq) in a legal process and with the vote of confidence of this country’s parliament will receive our support,” the ambassador noted.
His comments came after Iraqi President Barham Salih nominated head of intelligence Mustafa al-Kazemi as Iraq’s new prime minister-designate.
The nomination on Thursday came moments after predecessor Adnan al-Zurfi ended his bid to form a government.
Al-Kazemi now has 30 days to submit his cabinet lineup to the 329-member parliament for a vote of confidence.
President Rouhani said on Saturday that low-risk businesses will resume work in the capital, Tehran, as of April 18.
These businesses can start work while abiding by relevant health protocols, he said at a meeting of the National Coronavirus Headquarters.
As part of the smart social distancing plan, low-risk businesses have already resumed work in all provinces other than Tehran as of April 11, he added.
He said businesses which are resuming work are required to register on a website specified for the same purpose by the health ministry.
President Rouhani added discussions were also held on the resumption of work for high-risk
“In a meeting we had with heads of committees [of the National Coronavirus Headquarters], it was decided that they draw up plans for high-risk businesses as well in coordination with the Ministry of Health and Medical Education as well as the Ministry of Industries, Mine and Trade, and that the decisions be implemented whenever the plan is ready in compliance with relevant protocols and directives,” he added.
The president also urged citizens to preferably use their personal cars rather than public transportation as part of social distancing measures.
Es’haq Jahangiri said Saturday the COVID-19 epidemic affects people’s health and has economic and social consequences.
“The most important responsibility of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance is to adopt policies consistent with the current situation in order to ease economic pressure on people and affected enterprises,” he said in a meeting with senior economic authorities.
He said the government had to change some of its economic policies after the US imposed its sanctions.
“Unfortunately, we have been gripped by effects and consequences of the coronavirus in the country in recent weeks, making it all the more necessary to adopt new economic policies and plans through consultations with the country’s experts and economists,” Jahangiri noted.
“One of the government’s most important policies wat to boost people’s resistance against the pressure of the United States’ unfair sanctions. Today, we should be able to boost that resistance against the pressure caused by fallout from the coronavirus outbreak,” he said.
The vice president underlined that all government institutions and people are required to abide by the directives issued by the National Coronavirus Headquarters.
“The enforcement of the social distancing plan and other programs resulted in domestic enterprises getting closed and affected. Moreover, people making a living though day-to-day work also suffered [financially], and solutions should be presented to solve these problems,” he said.
Jahangiri underscored that sanctions restricted the government’s ability to access its financial resources.
“Still, at the very beginning of the coronavirus crisis, the government made the necessary planning to grant 12-percent loans to affected institutions and has been trying to create conditions to meet the needs of low-income families,” he added.
He said one of the key measures of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance at this juncture is to help people not feel the pinch from economic pressure.
He called on institutions which are satellites of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance to focus on efforts to resolve the problems of small and medium-sized enterprises to prevent their collapse in the midst of the coronavirus crisis.
He noted another mission of the ministry is to draw up plans to revive economy in the post-coronavirus era.
“As part of its objectives, this ministry should set targets with regards to job creation, sustainable development, curbing inflation and swelling the resources of the national budget,” he said.
He underlined that the country’s budget is now less dependent on oil revenues, adding the budget should be provided through other sources such as selling shares of state companies on the stock market and selling banks’ assets.
The vice president said the government plans to empower the private sector affected by the coronavirus outbreak in the domains of industry, agriculture and services.
He urged the privatization of state institutions, and added the private sector can own major industries, shipping companies and banks as well.
Nadushan, one of the counties of Meybod, has been a forerunner in enforcing lockdown rules with exemplary activity and cooperation of all intellectuals and social activists amid the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
Seyyed Hadi Mousavi, the Mayor of Nadushan, has told Iran newspaper that no suspicious or positive case of coronavirus has been observed in the city so far.
“Since the coronavirus outbreak was reported in the country, we decided to take measures to prevent the spread of the disease by making decisions in the meetings of Nadushan Health Council. Our city is a relatively deprived one and there are no suitable medical facilities and equipment in this old city,” he continued.
Noting that they could not succeed without the cooperation of the people and non-governmental organisations, he said, “First, it was decided the people reduce the traffic in the city. Then, the entrances and exits of the city were severely controlled and monitored by popular forces.”
He also stated that the dairy of Nadushan is completely natural and is a famous brand, so a lot of people from all over the province want to purchase it. Therefore, there is a lot of traffic to buy dairy products in Nadushan.
“That’s why we decided to prevent non-native vehicles from entering Nadushan by controlling the entrances and exits of the city. We didn’t even allow people, who lived in other cities of the province and had villas in Nadushan, to come to this city at weekends. We asked them to collaborate with us in this work, and fortunately they did so.”
Another move was to close the city’s parks and gardens, he said. At the entrance of the city, the people who were commuting were screened, and the vehicles that intended to travel from the Nadushan belt road were disinfected.
“We also issued a traffic card for people who work in other cities of the province, and when entering and leaving the city, they also take a fever test.”
One of the problems in fighting against the virus is the existence of an iron ore mine in the city; however, following correspondence with provincial officials, we tried to suspend their activity for a while, as a number of workers at the mine live in other cities of the province and may be carriers of the coronavirus, he underscored.
“We did not receive any help from anybody or institution in the province to take all these measures. All of them were performed spontaneously by the officials of Nadushan and the very good cooperation of the people of this city,” reminded Mousavi.
For issues such as banning traffic in the city and controlling the entrance and exit of the city, we faced legal problems, but we got the permission with our follow-ups and the good cooperation of the provincial officials, he reiterated.
Due to the outbreak of the corona virus and the need to ensure the health rights of citizens, Iran’s Vice Presidency for Legal Affairs has taken several measures.
The most important of these measure are as follows:
Developing the legal capacities to support the medical staff both in terms of providing the protective equipment and employment contracts
Developing the legal capacity to protect the health of citizens, especially citizens with special physical, social and legal conditions
Developing legal capacity to protect detainees and convicts through leave, parole, and other legal means, and pursuing these matters in the judiciary and the executives branches
Developing legal capacities and other available facilities for provinces with special status, such as northern provinces and holy and tourist cities, and proposing traffic restrictions, amount of work attendance and providing health facilities
Developing legal protections for businesses, and classifying the contracts affected by the outbreak of the virus as well as preparing and proposing a letter to the cabinet on how to apply force majeure and hardship cases
Developing civil and penal capacities to deal with the racketeering and related economic crimes amid the outbreak of the disease and the ways to deal with them
Developing civil and penal capacities to deal with intentional or concomitant violations of health rules and regulations and the resulting civil and penal accountability
Preparing a new judicial action plan and submitting a bill to the International Court of Justice regarding violation of the interim order by the United States in not lifting the sanctions affecting the prevalence of coronavirus, as well as coordinating the government’s legal efforts to prepare documents and the draft bill
Mohammad Ehsaee is a calligrapher, painter and graphic artist who has won the top Iranian award for best cultural and artistic figure.
In an interview with ISNA, Ehsaee said the self-quarantine at home after the outbreak of the novel coronavirus is not anything new to him, since he has been living in such conditions for a decade.
Although Ehsaee is saddened by the news of COVID-19 outbreak, he believes that the new situation could have benefits as well.
“The subject of quarantine is not quite new to me. At present, I have been in quarantine for almost 10 years. My contact with the outer world is very limited, and my hands have been also sterilized since 10 years ago,” he said about the conditions caused by the outbreak of coronavirus.
“Around 10 years ago at age 70, I realized that I have served the education, training and professional activities sector as much as I could and even beyond that. I was exhausted because of the constant work I was doing, so I thought and came to the conclusion that it would not be a great sin to leave everything behind and live how I’d like to. So I cut almost all of my connections with the professional world and stopped attending the exhibitions and various meetings. The latest exhibition of my works which was held in the last month of the previous year was organized by a collector who was in possession of a number of my works,” he explained.
“During the quarantine days, I decide what to do when I wake up every morning. In this period, I have completed the works that had remained from the past and draw new sketches. Like everybody else, I am saddened by this incident (coronavirus outbreak), although I have gotten used to seeing a good point in every happening for years and this attitude is soothing for me. These days, the Masnavi of Rumi, the Maqalat-e Shams (Discourse of Shams Tabrizi) and (poems of) Hafez are the books around my bed, and reading those books allay me,” Ehsaee said.
The Iranian artist says he had been transcribing the holy Quran in Muhaqqaq calligraphic script for years, but after the outbreak of coronavirus he has once again begun to exercise Nasta’liq calligraphy.
“After one month of calligraphy I realized what a perfect psychological effect this job has. When I’m working, nothing else comes to my mind and the joy of such purposeless activity is indescribable,” he noted.
The Iranian artist then praised the medical personnel for their leading role in the fight against coronavirus and for their devotion to duty, saying when he sees the doctors and nurses dedicating themselves to the treatment of patients, he is moved to tears and his heart begins to beat differently.
“These days, I become very saddened by hearing the bitter news. However, I see a benefit in this happening and I hope we could enjoy life in future and discover the meaning of life as it is necessary, and I hope that the world and the Earth would also be treated kindly by us humans,” he concluded.
Clearing that debt needs to be your priority, and you can always employ these strategies to handle those debts completely.
Settle old debts
You might be having some old debts that you’ve carried for a long time, particularly that lousy debt that does not have value. Well, consider repaying them in full, given that an account that’s fully paid might improve your credit score. In case settling old debts seems tiresome, consider using a debt settlement company that will negotiate your payment up to 80% of your outstanding balance. Expert financial advisers would insist that you get important information on a trust deed that might be a formal alternative strategy for clearing the debt. The company negotiates on your behalf, therefore, you won’t have to make any payments since they will pay the mortgage on your behalf. When you delay in settling old debts, the late payment will reflect on your credit score and will damage it. Despite the extra cost that a settlement company offers, paying an old debt would be better than the default, given the hefty penalties that you will face.
Have a debt repayment strategy
Your budget can probably afford discretionary expenditure, therefore, you can always create a debt repayment plan that will help you concentrate your debt repayment and speed up the time you will spend clearing the menace. Begin by creating a list of all the debts that you owe along with the credit card debt and the monthly payment strategy that you enforce on each of them. Sum up all the payments and determine the amount that you need every month to sustain your debt payment, and in case the amount is less than your expenditure, determine the extra amount that you can place for debt repayment every month. Such a strategy would safeguard you from the legal enforcement that is attached to some types of debt. Besides, such approaches often help debtors keep track of their payment progress and will motivate you to get out of debt.
Make a budget
In case you don’t have a budget, now would be the best time to develop one. Your plan needs to take into account the monthly expenditure taking into account your monthly income. Begin by writing down all your income sources, a record of all your expenses, car payment, mortgages, entertainment expenses, and the variable expenses that you incur every month. Subtract the expenses from your monthly income, and you can allocate a portion of the balance for payment of debts. In case the balance is zero or negative, that’s an indicator that you spend more than your income, and you, therefore, need to either earn more or spend less.
Lower the Interest rates
Well, that high-interest rate could be your greatest hindrance when paying off the debt, therefore attempting to lower the interest might be a suitable solution. You can achieve this by contacting your creditor and requesting a reduced interest rate. In case you often pay your debts on time, chances are high that you will succeed. Also, you can try consolidating your debts into a monthly payment plan that offers lower interest rates. The standard approach applied by most debtors involves taking a debt consolidation loan, or you could consult a credit counseling firm to help with debt management. The counselors often negotiate on your behalf; thus, you will be awarded a lower interest rate.
Limit the use of credit cards
Given that you have started repaying your debts, it would be essential that you avoid getting deeper into debt by limiting your poor spending habits that involve the use of your credit card. To limit your spending, try regulating the number of times you use the credit card monthly. It might be difficult, but if you are armed with a budget, you will find alternative ways to cover your expenses. In case you find it hard to limit your card expenses, then leave it at home to limit your impulse buying. You can even freeze your card in a block of ice, although drastic measures will assist you in reclaiming your freedom.
Generally, getting out of debt can be challenging, but with the right strategy, you can always reclaim your financial freedom. Always remember that a great journey starts with one step, and today could be the day you begin the journey to financial freedom. Consider employing the above strategies and reclaim the freedom you long for!
Addressing a ceremony on Saturday Sorena Sattari said while many countries have problems in procuring ventilators, Iranian companies are capable of producing so many ventilators.
“We are pleased to have this active ecosystem in our knowledge-based companies where products with international standards can be produced,” noted Sattari.
A significant number of CT scan devices have been delivered to the Ministry of Health in the past two months, while the ICU room and recovery room equipment are also made in the country, underlined Iranian VP.
He added that 98% of the drugs are produced domestically, saying “We have no restrictions in production, and there has been no talks about imports in large quantities, because the Iranian companies can produce every new drug that is effective in treating the COVID-19 within almost 10 days.”
Noting that the Islamic Republic is famous in the field of biotechnology, the Vice President for Science and Technology said, “We have the largest biotechnology companies in the region, and we are unrivaled in the Middle East. We produce 24 biotech drugs while there is no biotech drug in Turkey.”
Referring to the production of more than 100,000 coronavirus diagnostic kits per week in the country, he stated three types of kits have been mass-produced, one is the coronavirus diagnostic kit and the others are kits that determine who has been infected before.
“Good things have happened in areas such as medical equipment and artificial intelligence, and we hope all of this will be a prelude to believing that we have an ecosystem active in the field of biotech to deal with such crises quickly,” highlighted Sattari.
He concluded that Iranian companies can detect, design and mass-produce these equipment when faced with a new phenomenon. This is something the Islamic Republic needs in all industries.
Ali Asghar Mounesan said Saturday the tourism industry needs to be activated as soon as possible after containing the coronavirus so that jobs that have been damaged can make up for some of their losses with the government’s help.
Mounesan noted that the tourism industry is linked directly and indirectly with various sectors of the economy.
“With its economic, social and cultural effects, tourism is one of the most important and vital sectors of any country, but the outbreak of the coronavirus in Iran and around the world has caused the industry to suffer the most.”
World Travel and Tourism Council statistics show that tourism accounts for 10.4 percent of the world’s gross domestic product and creates 320 million jobs. It is also responsible for creating one-fifth of new jobs. Moreover, for eight consecutive years it contributed to global economic growth more than other sectors, emphasised Mounesan.
The Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts stated the World Tourism Organisation recently issued a report estimating that international tourist arrivals could decline by 20% to 30% in 2020. Arrivals could also return to seven years ago due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
“The organisation has estimated a loss of 290 to 440 billion dollars,” Mounesan pointed out.
The containment of the pandemic is the utmost priority and the tourism sector is committed to support all measures taken to curb the outbreak. UNWTO is working closely with the World Health Organisation, its Members States and the industry to ensure a coordinated and effective response, he added.
Bread is known as a staple food for the Iranian families. In the not too far past, baking homemade bread was a common practice in nearly all Iranian houses, carried out by women. The older generation and today’s grandmothers have still memories of making bread at home.
The new generation has no experience of the mouth-watering aroma coming from the clay ovens when home-made bread was being baked, and has not tasted the smaller breads made exclusively for the children either.
Baking bread at home has resurfaced these days in Iran in the wake of the outbreak of coronavirus.
Home-baked bread significantly reduces the risk of infection with coronavirus and also allows the household members to spend more time together and have an enjoyable experience in self-quarantine.
The following photos show a grandmother baking bread with her grandchildren in Saman, a small city in Iran’s western province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari:
