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The coronavirus continues to spread in Persian-speaking Tajikistan, despite the Rahmon regime downplaying the issue.
Officially, Tajikistan had 907 coronavirus cases with six related deaths as of May 14. However, the local press is also reporting increasing cases of “lethal pneumonia” across the country which could actually be instances undiagnosed coronavirus.
Following a telephone conversation between Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon on May 6, a first consignment of humanitarian and medical aid from Iran was delivered to help near neighbour Tajikistan.
2.2​ ​US pulls waivers on civilian nuclear cooperation with Iran
Scaling down
The US has essentially scrapped the last remnants of its cooperation with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal by ending sanctions waivers that allow Russian, Chinese and European companies to engage in civilian nuclear cooperation with Iran.
The move puts the five countries—France, Germany, the UK, Russia and China—that along with Iran remain signed up to the accord in a tough spot. Continuing with the cooperation risks invoking US sanctions, but ending it may place them in breach of the nuclear deal (formally the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA).
Tehran described the US move announced on May 27 as "desperate." The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran stated that the US Trump administration had made the move in a bid "to distract public opinion from its continued defeats at the hands of Iran".
The JCPOA lifted heavy sanctions against Iran in return for compliance with measures aimed at ensuring the country’s nuclear programme is kept entirely civilian. Despite UN inspectors saying Iran had stuck to full compliance with the accord, US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew Washington from it in May 2018, arguing it wasn’t tough enough. He has since used crushing sanctions aimed at placing Iran’s economy in such dire straits that Tehran comes to the table to accept a reconfigured nuclear deal under which it would also have to halt its ballistic missile development programme and cease supporting various militias across Middle East conflict zones that threaten Washington’s regional allies, including Israel. Iranian officials concede that Iran’s economy has taken some disabling blows from the sanctions but that the country is using its many years of experience in how to work around sanctions in order to defeat Trump’s strategy.
The past year has seen Iran protest at the lack of help Europe has provided it with in protecting its trade from the US sanctions. At the same time, Tehran has been gradually scaling down its cooperation with the JCPOA,​ saying the cooperation would be restored should Europe come through with meaningful assistance, but this would be very difficult for the Europeans to deliver as European companies generally keep their distance from Iran fearing that to do otherwise would expose them to secondary
6​ IRAN Country Report June 2020 www.intellinews.com