Iran's outgoing health minister asks for military-enforced lockdown 

Iran's outgoing Health Minister Saied Namaki wrote an open letter yesterday, Aug. 1, to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging him and the Supreme National Security Council to directly intervene to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Iran.

One of the requests Namaki made was for a two-week lockdown enforced by the military and the police. He said that the citizens of Tehran did not obey most recent lockdown and it was not enforced. Namaki said that during the lockdown restaurants remained open and people continued to travel in and out of the province.

Namaki lamented that lockdowns in other provinces fared no better. He wrote that citizens did not abide by the health protocols recommended by the Health Ministry. He added that the during the lockdown of Sistan and Baluchistan, buses continued to travel in and out of the province. He noted that other areas of the country continued to accept pilgrims from Pakistan and Afghanistan with no screening.

Namaki continued that countries in Asia and Europe, despite having high vaccination rates, have reintroduced quarantines. However, even as Iran continues to struggle to acquire vaccines, citizens are behaving “as if everything is normal.”