Covid-19 adding to tensions between Iran and neighboring states

Mervat Zakaria

The appearance of Covid-19 in Wuhan, China, has had its toll on the world at large.

The virus reached the Middle East region, especially Iran which did not suspend flights with China as it suffered tough economic conditions because of the U.S. sanctions on it.

Iran has already become the main source of contagion in the region. This encouraged regional states, especially Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait, to suspend flights with Iran and shut down border crossing points with it.

Current situation

On March 10, Iran reported its highest coronavirus fatalities, 54. This brought overall fatalities from the virus up to 291. It also reported 881 new infections, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 8,042.

The way Iranian authorities dealt with this emergency is a lot similar to the way it dealt with other emergencies in the past. They initially denied the presence of a problem. Then, they blamed foreign conspiracies for the Covid-19 outbreak in Iran.

What makes matters worse is also that Iranian officials reject putting the city of Qom, south of Tehran on lockdown. This caused the infection to spread even more, especially with millions of Iranians from all parts of the country visiting the city for pilgrimage.

Neighboring countries

A large number of Iranian citizens work in neighboring Gulf states. Shias from neighboring countries also visit holy sites in Qom, the epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak in Iran.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia reported its first coronavirus case on March 2 for a Saudi national who had just returned from Iran through Bahrain.

However, several Saudi national entered Iran later, but did not have their passports stamped at Iranian airports. When these people returned home, Saudi authorities could not know that they were in Iran. This raised the number of infections in Saudi Arabia to five.