tehran

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran announced Saturday that its death toll from the coronavirus has passed the milestone of 30,000, in what has been the Mideast region’s worst outbreak.

A vigil in Tehran for a late Iranian musician outside the hospital where he died morphed into an anti-government protest on Thursday night. Videos posted to social media appear to show people chanting “death to the dictator” during the demonstration.

Persecuted Iranian musician Mehdi Rajabian said Wednesday he was recently arrested and will face trial on charges of working with women singers and dancers in violation of Islamic law.

Iran showcased new surface-to-surface ballistic and cruise missiles on Thursday in a rebuke to the United States who have demanded the regime halt its weapons program. 

The Iranian regime shut down a local newspaper on Monday, one day after it published an article by a health expert accusing Tehran of massively underreporting the nation’s official coronavirus numbers, Kurdistan 24 revealed on Wednesday.

Iranian security forces rushed to suppress a new wave of demonstrations across Iran on Thursday and Friday. The regime is clearly nervous about a possible repeat of the 2019 protests, which featured some of the same grievances and defiant slogans.

Another mysterious explosion – a series of them, according to some sources – rocked Tehran on Thursday night, knocking out the power along the western edge of the city.

An accident at a nuclear complex in Iran caused significant damage and could slow the production of centrifuges used to enrich uranium, the country’s atomic energy spokesman said.

Tehran police have arrested one person in connection with an explosion at a medical clinic that killed at least 19 people, Radio Farda reported Tuesday.

Tehran — Iran warned Monday it may have to reimpose tough measures against the novel coronavirus to ensure social distancing, as it reported more than 100 deaths for a second straight day.

TEL AVIV – Israel was behind a “highly accurate” cyberattack on an Iranian port facility that caused total chaos, the Washington Post reported Monday,  citing foreign and U.S. officials as saying the attack was in retaliation for the Islamic Republic’s attempted assault on Israel’s water infrastructure. 

In a world first, Iran unveiled a special magnetic coronavirus detector Wednesday it claimed can remotely identify infected people and contaminated areas within a range of 100 meters. Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander Major General Hossein Salami said the unique device is so advanced it obviates the need for blood tests and delivers a result in just five seconds.

The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, will stage a “biological defense exercise” on Wednesday against the Chinese coronavirus, Ground Force Commander Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour announced at a press conference on Tuesday.

Iran, scene of the world’s worst fastest and deadliest outbreak of the Wuhan coronavirus, followed the Chinese Communist Party’s lead and attempted to flip the political script on Thursday by claiming its response to the outbreak has been exemplary, the United States is the clearly incompetent party, and Tehran is magnanimously willing to help America get the virus under control.

Iranian state media issued a dire warning to its citizens on Tuesday about the severity of the ongoing Chinese coronavirus outbreak, suggesting “millions” could die across the country if people keep ignoring medical advice. 

Iran warned Monday the coronavirus pandemic could overwhelm local health facilities as the death toll topped 700 and another senior lawmaker died from the disease.

Having already speculated that the coronavirus is an American-made biological weapon, the Iranian regime took the next natural step over the weekend and claimed the disease was created by “Zionists” who want to start a war with Iran.

Tehran — An adviser to Iran’s foreign minister who took part in the 1979 U.S. embassy hostage crisis has died from coronavirus, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated terrorist organization, on Wednesday claimed scientists under its control are close to developing a vaccine for the Wuhan coronavirus, which is spreading like wildfire through Iran.

Iranian parliament member Ahmad Amirabadi Farhani told reporters on Monday that the Islamic regime has been lying about the severity of the Chinese coronavirus outbreak in the Mideast country and that 50 people have died since it first began spreading there.

Iran assured international fliers Tuesday its skies are “safer than any other time for domestic and foreign flights” as Iran Army Commander Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi sought to absolve the Islamic regime’s leadership from fault over the downing of a Ukrainian airliner last week.

The first arrests have been made in Iran relating to the downing of a Ukrainian airlinerlast week, after a third night of angry protests shook the capital Tehran.

A video clip highlighted on Sunday by U.N. Watch, a non-governmental organization based in Switzerland, showed students at Iran’s Tehran University refusing to trample on American and Israeli flags as directed by agents of the Basij, a paramilitary force controlled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Iran is entirely innocent of any and all accusations it tried to hide the causes of the downing of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) Flight 752 last week, Major General Hossein Salami said on Sunday.

Iranian security forces used tear gas and live rounds to turn back angry crowds Sunday night as people rallied against the Islamic Republic’s leadership. The protests began after the government admitted a Ukrainian jetliner was shot down by the country’s own military.

President Donald Trump shared messages of support with Iranian protesters in Tehran on Saturday. “We are following your protests closely, and are inspired by your courage,” Trump wrote on Twitter.

Britain’s ambassador to Iran, Robert Macaire, was arrested on Saturday in Tehran, briefly detained, and then released.

CNN picked up a line of Tehran propaganda Friday conflating the shootdown of an Iran Air jetliner by a U.S. Navy ship in 1988 with this week’s Ukrainian jetliner loss.

The United States deployed additional military support to Kenya this week to strengthen security against the Islamist terror group Al-Shabaab. Nairobi, on Tuesday, reiterated its commitment to expanding its trade links with Iran.

Suspicions of foul play in the crash of a Ukrainian passenger jet minutes after takeoff from Tehran last night intensified on Wednesday as Iran refused to hand over the black boxes from the aircraft. All 176 people aboard the plane reportedly died in the crash.