UNSC to Hold Meeting on Post-COVID-19 Security Threats

reporter 1222 — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 07:50:28 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The UN Security Council will hold a high-level summit during the annual meeting of world leaders at the General Assembly later this month to discuss security threats in the world after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.

Niger’s UN Ambassador Abdou Abarry, who took over the rotating council presidency on Tuesday, told a virtual press conference Tuesday that the meeting of the UN’s most powerful body will take place online on Sept. 24.

Abarry said the meeting “on post-COVID-19 global governance in relation to the maintenance of international peace and security” will address traditional security threats such as conflicts but also crime and pandemics as well as “adjustments” to the current international system.

He said Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou, who will chair the meeting, is sending invitation to the leaders of the 14 other countries on the Security Council. Some countries, which he didn’t name, have already indicated their heads of state will attend, he said, AP reported.

Abarry said a key issue after the coronavirus pandemic is: “Are we going to be able to structure a more resilient, a more just, a more fair world with less destruction of the environment among others, and that can enable and facilitate humanity to live in harmony, and with nature?”

In recent years, the Security Council has held a meeting on a theme chosen by its rotating president for September during the General Assembly high-level meeting which usually brings thousands of people to UN headquarters in New York.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the high-level meeting will be almost entirely online.

US President Donald Trump presided over a high-level Security Council meeting on countering nuclear, chemical and biological weapons during the United States’ presidency of the council in September 2018. Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, chaired Security Council meetings in 2009 and 2014.

Last year, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov presided over a ministerial meeting of the council on the contribution of three regional organizations that Moscow belongs to in countering terrorist threats.

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COVID-19 Threat: Regions Categorized in White, Yellow, Red Categories

reporter 1222 — Sun, 26 Apr 2020 10:10:25 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that all areas of the country would be categorized according to the coronavirus morbidity rate and the extent of the outbreak in order to define various restrictions and better deal with the COVID-19 threat.

In remarks at a meeting of the Coronavirus Fight National Headquarters, Rouhani said a plan has been ratified to categorize various regions of the country as “white, yellow and red zones” according to the threat posed by COVID-19.

The president said each region will fall into one of those three categories on the basis of the coronavirus morbidity rate, the extent of the outbreak, and the regulations introduced by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education.

Various restrictions and regulations relating to the coronavirus outbreak will apply to each of the three zones, the president added.

More than 100 cities would fall into the white zone category, he noted, adding that as long as a region remains in the white zone, religious sites could reopen in that area, and congregational and Friday prayers could also be held there.

Rouhani explained that an area will be declared a white zone when there is no report of new coronavirus cases and deaths for two weeks.

The Health Ministry will be drawing a map to define the white, yellow, and red zones according to its criteria, he added.

The president underscored that the smart social distancing scheme must be strictly observed without any interruption, and that reopening of businesses should not be interpreted as an end to COVID-19 and resumption of normal life.

The best way to defeat the coronavirus epidemic is to observe the social distancing regulations, health protocols, and personal hygiene, he said.

Rouhani further pointed to a new decision on the mandatory use of face masks and gloves in the subway, saying the Interior Ministry will announce the start of the compulsory plan.

He also highlighted Iran’s success in meeting the domestic demand for the medical supplies in the battle with the coronavirus, saying hospitals across the country have received 1,100 more beds, 425 ICU (intensive care unit) beds, and 900 respiratory devices.

The post COVID-19 Threat: Regions Categorized in White, Yellow, Red Categories appeared first on Iran News Daily.

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UNSC to Hold Meeting on Post-COVID-19 Security Threats

COVID-19 Threat: Regions Categorized in White, Yellow, Red Categories