Iranian Businesses That Pose No Public Health Risks Can Reopen, Deputy Minister Says
By Roshanak Astaraki
Businesses that pose no public health risks and are unlikely to cause the spread of coronavirus can soon reopen under the government’s “smart social distancing” scheme, according to Hossein Modarres Khiabani, the...
Iran’s Health Ministry Urged to Punish Private Hospitals That Cut Nursing Staff
By Roshanak Astaraki
In a letter to the Iranian Minister of Health and Medical Sciences, Dr. Saeed Namaki, the director of the Nursing Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran (INO), Dr. Mohammad Mirzabeigi, has...
OPINION: Iran Lacks Coherent Strategy to Fight Pandemic; Employees at Risk
By Roshanak Astaraki
It has been 42 days since the first cases of the COVID-19 emerged in Tehran and the holy city of Qom. Yet despite the creation of the National Headquarters for Fighting Coronavirus,...
ANALYSIS: Iranians Face Severe Economic Hardship As Prices Soar
By Roshanak Astaraki
Since the start of the current Iranian year on March 21, economic conditions in Iran have taken a turn for the worse.
While wages have increased by 57 percent in the past two...
ANALYSIS: Iran’s Economic Crisis Is Set to Worsen
By Roshanak Astaraki
Iran is experiencing the most severe economic crisis in 100 years, with ordinary Iranians and wage-earners bearing the brunt of the hardship. The Islamic Republic’s 13th government, headed by President Ebrahim Raisi,...
Iran Excluded from World Bank, IMF Meetings on Coronavirus Aid
By Roshanak Astaraki
The World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) held an emergency meeting on March 19 to discuss debt relief for International Development Association (IDA) countries affected by the COVID-19...
Iranian Banks Facing Severe Cash Shortage, Expert Says
By Roshanak Astaraki
Under international trade laws, most if not all Iranian banks should have filed for bankruptcy by now, given that they lack the minimum cash reserves required to meet international banking requirements, Ahmad Hatami-Yazd, the former manager...
Death Toll From Bandar Abbas Port Explosion Continues to Rise
By Roshanak Astaraki
According to official figures released by the Islamic Republic of Iran, the explosion at Shahid Rajaei Port -- near Bandar Abbas in Iran’s southern province of Hormozgan -- has resulted in 70...
Wheat Flour Used in Iranian Bakeries Contains Dirt and Sand, Head of Food Agency...
By Roshanak Astaraki
Some 700,000 tons of wheat flour used by bakeries in the country every year, with an estimated retail value of $237 million, consists mostly of dirt, sand, gravel and bran (husk), according...
Iranian Government Responsible for Missed Trade Opportunities in Iraq, Merchant Says
By Roshanak Astaraki
Many people believed that Iran would play a significant role in rebuilding Iraq after the terrorist group the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIS), also known by its Arabic acronym Daesh,...
