2nd Tehran lawmaker dies from coronavirus as Iran death toll hits 145
| March 7, 2020
Times of Israel — An Iranian lawmaker died from the novel coronavirus on Saturday, Iran’s state news agency reported, one of several officials to succumb to the illness in the epidemic-hit country.
Fatemeh Rahbar, 55, had recently been elected to the parliament from the capital Tehran, the agency said.
She is the second lawmaker killed by the virus in Iran and one of seven politicians and government officials who have died in the outbreak since the country reported its first cases in mid-February.
Rahbar was among the top candidates in Tehran for the conservatives, who overwhelmingly won February’s general election marked by the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohamamd Javad Zarif later said American sanctions — reimposed from 2018, after Washington pulled out of a multilateral nuclear deal — were undermining Iran’s battle against the coronavirus.
US President Donald Trump “is maliciously tightening US’ illegal sanctions with the aim of draining Iran’s resources needed in the fight against #COVID-19 — while our citizens are dying from it” Zarif tweeted on Saturday. Read more.
