Stating that today, many governments around the world have come up with the idea of putting an increase in restrictions again, he said, “Therefore, in recent weeks, we have begun to apply many fresh corona related restrictions across the country.”

Rouhani went on to say, “In recent weeks, first in 43 cities and then in 46 cities, 90 cities in total, we have expanded many restrictions and also last week, some new provinces have been added to such restrictions.”

“Iran’s government to apply fresh COVID19-related limitations across Iran”

According to President, the primary goal of the government is to make the Iranian people become more aware and more sensitive to the situation, caused by the pandemic, which has surpassed the normal condition.

He went on to say, “From next Saturday, on November 21, a plan on restrictions will be announced in a weekly manner and it will be implemented throughout the country without any exceptions.”

“Iran’s government to apply fresh COVID19-related limitations across Iran”

“Today, we made general decisions that the details of which will be finalized within this week and the spokesman of the National Headquarters of Administrating coronavirus will explain it to the people”, he added.

Iranian Presidential expressed hope that with the help of everyone and observance of health protocols, the country will overcome this unwelcome virus.

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The US and European countries’ potential economic decline as a result of the coronavirus crisis has laid the seeds for a shift of global tectonic plates to China, the director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said.

“There are some signs of a tectonic shift towards China – primarily, its long-run faster rate of economic growth on top of its massive resource base. These have been visible since the time of the 2008 financial crisis. In the decade-plus since then, the shift in China’s direction has probably been rather less significant than initially anticipated, despite the Belt and Road Initiative, and despite the misfiring of US policy and loss of influence during the Trump presidency,” Dan Smith told Tasnim in an interview.

He added, “So in my view, the seeds have already been sown but growth has been slower than I would have expected”.

Dan Smith has a long record of research and publication on a wide range of conflict and peace issues such as nationalism, identity politics, armed conflicts, ethics of intervention, gender aspects of conflict and peacebuilding. In recent years, his work has broadened to encompass other contemporary issues such as the relationship between climate change and insecurity, peace and security issues in the Middle East and global conflict trends. Smith has served four years in the UN Peacebuilding Fund Advisory group, two of which (2010–2011) were as Chair. He has lived most of his adult life in the UK with a 10-year spell in Norway. He has traveled professionally to more than 60 countries.

Following is the full text of the interview.

Tasnim: The post-COVID19 race could determine whether the US rebounds in a manner that allows it to retain what it calls the mantle of global leadership. There are reports that Beijing could leverage its first-mover advantage – alongside a faster economic recovery across Asian markets – accelerating the trend toward a Chinese-centric globalization. What do you think?

Smith: It is evident that the Chinese government is attempting to position itself in various ways to gain an advantage in global influence. Success in this, however, may be more elusive than some observers seem to believe.

If it takes less economic losses and rebounds quicker than the USA and the EU taken as a whole, China will have a short-term advantage of sorts. However, the integration of global markets makes a negative-sum calculation difficult to justify. If there is not an adequate Western market, Chinese output will also be affected. It can stimulate Western demand through loans but only if it finds Western takers for its finance. It has done that in the past, leading to a major imbalance within the world economy that was one of the factors in the 2008 financial crash and subsequent economic crisis. Given the negative long-run consequences of that indebtedness to China and the greater visibility today than two decades ago of the dimensions of competition between the great powers, there may be less willingness to absorb Chinese financing to sustain markets for China. That in turn, while not limiting Chinese freedom of maneuver, would limit its opportunities for pre-eminence in a new phase of globalization.

Tasnim: The IMF has projected a US economic decline of about 6% in 2020 and a contraction of the Eurozone of 7.5%. That compares to projected Chinese economic growth for 2020 of 1.2% after a first-quarter real decline of 6.7% – far less than the 10%-plus dip many experts had expected. The only group of countries in the world projected to be in positive territory are East Asian, at roughly 1%. This has raised concerns within the US and Europe. Recently, French President Emanuel Macron argued that the coming months could determine whether the European Union collapses as a political and economic project. Do you believe that their steeper economic decline and slower recovery could lay the seeds for a long-lasting shift of global tectonic plates to East Asian nations’ advantage?

Smith: There are some signs of a tectonic shift towards China – primarily, its long-run faster rate of economic growth on top of its massive resource base. These have been visible since the time of the 2008 financial crisis. In the decade-plus since then, the shift in China’s direction has probably been rather less significant than initially anticipated, despite the Belt and Road Initiative, and despite the misfiring of US policy and loss of influence during the Trump presidency. So in my view, the seeds have already been sown but growth has been slower than I would have expected. It may take another crisis or even two before we see really decisive signs that the Western era is over and the East’s has begun. During that time, so much can go wrong or right for different players that I would hesitate to state anything that sounds like a prediction.

It might be worth recalling that the Business Week magazine had a cover bemoaning the utter decline of US power back in 1979. These things take time.

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According To Iran News, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reminded Washington that American forces “have no business 7,000 miles away from home” and are provoking Iranian sailors in the Persian Gulf.

“The US military is hit by over 5000 #covid19 infections. @realdonaldtrump should attend to their needs, not engage in threats cheered on by Saddam’s terrorists,” Zarif said in a tweet on Thursday.

“Also, US forces have no business 7,000 miles away from home, provoking our sailors off our OWN Persian Gulf shores,” he added.

The remarks came after US President Donald Trump said he had instructed the US navy to destroy Iranian boats “if they harass” US ships in the Persian Gulf.

“I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea,” Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday morning.

On Sunday, the IRGC Navy released a video showing a recent confrontation between its forces and the US navy in the Persian Gulf, refuting claims by Washington that Iranian forces behaved in a dangerous manner when faced with US navy vessels.

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According To Iran News, Iran’s First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri assured people that the country is not going to face any shortage of basic commodities in the current Iranian year (started March 20), particularly amid the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Speaking at a meeting held on Tuesday to discuss the plans carried out by the Iranian Customs Office in the fight against the coronavirus, Jahangiri said detailed plans have been formulated to fulfill the country’s need for basic commodities this year.

He said while people in the other countries swarmed the stores after the outbreak of COVID-19 and snapped up all goods on the shelves, the shops in Iran did not face any problem and all basic commodities have been supplied seamlessly.

The vice president further said certain countries are so ruthless that they denied Iran’s access to the foreign currency resources after the outbreak of the coronavirus in order to foment a crisis and impair the Islamic Republic’s ability to supply the necessary commodities, but the situation marked a milestone in the country’s management strategies, as people did not witness any shortage of goods although the grocery shopping across Iran rose by five times higher than the normal days.

In comments on April 4, Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohamamd Eslami said Iran’s ports are stuffed full of basic commodities and trucks and trains are queuing up to carry the shipments into the country.

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According To Iran News, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the exercise of unilateralism by certain countries amid the coronavirus crisis could impede the collective global fight against the viral infection.

“#WorldHealthDay is a timely day for rethinking abt post-corona world. #CoronaCrisis is an opportunity if the global fighting on #COVID19 will lead to global solidarity & collaboration,” Seyed Abbas Mousavi said in a tweet on Tuesday.

He added, “@WHO does its coordination task well, though ‘unilateralism virus’ infects collective actions”.

Iran has been among the countries hardest hit by the new coronavirus, which first showed up in China in late December 2019 before spreading to other parts of the world.

Iran’s Health Ministry spokesman announced on Tuesday that more than 27,000 coronavirus patients have recovered from the disease so far and have been dismissed from hospital.

Kianoosh Jahanpoor said the number of people tested positive for COVID-19 across the country has reached 62,589 following the detection of 2,089 new cases since yesterday.

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IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – The Central Bank of Iran has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $5 billion emergency funding to fight a coronavirus pandemic as the number of infections keeps growing in the country.

In an Instagram post on Thursday, Abdulnaser Hemmati, governor of the Central Bank, said he had written to the IMF’s head, Kristalina Georgieva, last week to stress Iran’s “right to benefit from the fund’s $50-billion Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI).”

In the letter, the official highlighted the “widespread prevalence” of the virus — called COVID-19 — inside Iran and the need for the country to take measures to prevent further spread, treat the patients and counteract the economic aftermath of the disease.

“Given the size of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s quota in the fund, it calls for the use of the RFI fast financing facility of around $5 billion,” he added.

In a tweet on Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also called on the IMF to extend support to Iran, who is a member state of the Washington-based lender.

Zarif said the IMF managing director “has stated that countries affected by #COVID19 will be supported via Rapid Financial Instrument. Our Central Bank requested access to this facility immediately.”

IMF’s @KGeorgieva has stated that countries affected by #COVID19 will be supported via Rapid Financial Instrument. Our Central Bank requested access to this facility immediately.

The “IMF/IMF Board should adhere to fund’s mandate, stand on right side of history and act responsibly,” he said.

The outbreak — declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization — first emerged in China and is now spreading fast in other parts of the world.

In a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Zarif repeated Iran’s demand for U.S. sanctions to be lifted, Iranian media reported.

U.S. officials have said that the sanctions do not target medicine for Iran and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on February 29 that the U.S. had offered to help Tehran face the outbreak. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman reportedly said that any U.S. offer to help Iran in its fight against the coronavirus was “ridiculous”.

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According To Iran News, In separated phone conversations, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif discussed anti-corona collaboration with his Austrian and Pakistani counterparts.

Mohammad Javad Zarif held a phone conversation with the Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg on the mutual fight against coronavirus.

In a separate phone conversation on the same day, Zarif also discussed mutual ties, the spread of coronavirus and current developments in Afghanistan with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

On Monday, Zarif expressed gratitude to the World Health Organization (WHO) and friendly nations for their solidarity with Iran in the fight against the new coronavirus outbreak.

“Grateful to @WHO & friendly nations for solidarity in fighting #COVID19—in face of US #EconomicTerrorism, which has endangered Iranian patients,” Zarif wrote in a tweet on Monday.

He added that Iran is currently in need of “- N95 Face & 3-Layer Masks, Ventilators, Surgical Gowns, Coronavirus Test Kits, PPF, and Face/Body Shields.”

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