https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/6/catastrophic-iran-reports-record-rise-in-covid-19-cases
COVID-19, after ravaging Iran earlier this summer, has returned with even greater intensity in its second wave, with numbers rising to about 4,000 new cases and 235 deaths in a single day, which is the highest amount Iran has faced all year. This brings the total amount of cases in Iran to nearly 500,000, with about 30,000 deaths in total. Most of the nation’s provinces have been classified as “red”, the most severe level of outbreak. The second wave follows after many Iranian citizens started to ignore public restrictions, such as wearing a mask in public places, as a result of what is being called “pandemic fatigue”. Cities, such as the capital Tehran, have announced they will enter a full lockdown, in an attempt to ameliorate the ever-bleaker situation.
There are many reasons as to why Iran has had a difficult time dealing with the pandemic, but perhaps none is larger than the dire economic crisis brought on the country in the last year, with rial inflation reaching a record high this year. This is mostly due to the crippling economic restrictions placed on the nation by the United States, following its 2018 exit from the JCPOA deal at the behest of President Donald Trump. Without a properly functioning national economy, Iran has doubtless suffered much worse than they would have otherwise, as rising poverty has become just as despairing of a problem as the pandemic itself. It seems that the devastating impacts of COVID on Iran will only serve as further fuel to the fire in its ongoing conflict with the U.S.A.