[6] In response, the Government of Iran cancelled public events and Friday prayers; closed schools, universities, shopping centres, bazaars, and holy shrines; and banned festival celebrations.

[7][8] Economic measures were also announced to help families and businesses, and the pandemic is credited with compelling the government to make an unprecedented request for an emergency loan of five billion US dollars from the International Monetary Fund.

[31] On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, HuBei province, China, that had been reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.

According to physicians who spoke with American journalist Dexter Filkins and who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, possibly the first case of Covid in Iran was in December in the city of Gorgan.

The physicians complained to Filkins that in the coming weeks as the cases mounted and many of the patients started dying, hospital officials told staff "to keep quiet.

Theatres, swimming pools, saunas, beauty salons, schools, universities, shopping centers, and restaurants, as high-risk businesses, did not resume, and cultural, religious, and sports gatherings were banned.

"[75] Iranian officials stated that between 20 February and 7 April, at least 728 people had died in Iran due to Methanol poisoning after falsely believing that consuming the alcohol protected them from the virus.

[28] Health officials said that the estimate is based on serological blood tests measuring previous exposure of Iranians to the virus, and does not reflect the current state of the disease in Iran.

[152] The head of the atomic energy organisation Ali Akbar Salehi and the vice-president in charge of budget and planning Mohammad Bagher Nobakht both tested positive on 11 October.

[158] Major General Salami, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, stated, "Iran is currently engaged in biological warfare and will definitely win the war.

"[159] Claims in state-run Press TV that Israel was implicated in coronavirus conspiracies against Iran were seen by many, including the Jerusalem Post and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL),[citation needed] as being anti-semitic.

[9] On 26 February, Iranian Cyber Police announced that, in order to stop the spread of photos and videos with false information about the coronavirus, notices were given to 118 people and 24 others were arrested.

[citation needed] Iranian football player Mohammad Mokhtari, who on 10 March had posted on Instagram criticising the authorities' handling of the outbreak, was arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

[168][169] According to the Tasnim news agency, Southwest Asia's largest factory producing face masks in Iran was opened by Mohammad Mokhber, director of the Headquarters for Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order on 14 April 2020.

[171] On 2 March, the government announced plans to mobilise 300,000 soldiers and volunteers to combat the spread of the virus, as well as to deploy drones and water cannons to disinfect streets.

[177] Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Ismaili said that "he was activating a range of preventive measures including cutting the number of people being sent to jail and allowing some inmates out on temporary early release.

Although 100,000 prisoners have been released as a measure to contain the pandemic, an estimated 50,000 people are still behind bars, including violent offenders and "security cases", dual nationals and others with Western ties.

[189] On 3 April, Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the United Nations Human Rights Commission, expressed his worries about prison conditions in "countries including Iran, one of the worst-hit in the world".

On 18 April, Iran allowed some businesses in Tehran and nearby towns to re-open with a third of government offices employees still remote working, schools, restaurants, malls and grand bazaar remained closed.

[227] The easing of restrictions was followed by an increase in the number of new cases; despite the risk of a second wave of the infections, President Rouhani said on 6 June that there was no option but to keep the economy open.

[28] Iranian legislators advocated for the resignation of Education Minister Mohsen Haji-Mirzaei, after schools reopened to millions of students on 5 September 2020, following a seven-month shutdown.

[251] On 29 December 2020 a Phase 1 clinical trial of COVIran, an inactivated whole virus vaccine made by Shifa Pharmed of the Barakat Pharmaceutical Group, began with 56 volunteers.

[257] The system was launched by the Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order (Barakat Tel)[258] and in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Medical Education and Iran Telecommunication to screen Iranian families.

[309] The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) upgraded the status of Iran to level 3 (avoid non-essential travels due to widespread community transmission).

[318] The Chinese Defense Ministry announced on 20 March that test kits, protective suits, and medical masks provided by the People's Liberation Army were handed to the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

[327] The UK, Pakistan, China, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Group of 77 all urged the US to ease sanctions on Iran to help it fight the growing COVID-19 pandemic.

A letter claiming to be[weasel words] from the MOHME to the office of the President that circulated on social media[attribution needed] suggests that the Iranian authorities were aware of confirmed SARS-CoV-2 cases and deaths many days before the official announcement.

[422] On 2 March, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom said in an interview with CNBC that the WHO has its own mechanism for checking national health authorities' statistics and did not see problems with the official Iranian government SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 counts.

[432] On 12 March, The Washington Post published satellite images and analysis provided by Maxar Technologies, saying that vast burial pits were being excavated near Qom, said to be used to accommodate the victims in the city.

[437][17] According to Radio Farda, In a joint statement in late March, one hundred Iranian activists blamed Khamenei and Rouhani for covering up the spread of coronavirus and turning it into a catastrophe affecting the whole country.