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2.0 Politics
2.1 Iran warns of fourth wave of coronavirus
Iranian health authorities have issued a warning on March 1 over a "fourth wave" of the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, after registering more than 100 deaths in 24 hours, Otagh Online reported.
Iran has been criticised both inside the country and abroad for its low reporting of infections and deaths from the coronavirus.
"The death of 108 patients of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours is sounding the alarm of the fourth wave of the disease," Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said at her daily briefing.
The new daily figure takes the Iranian death toll from the epidemic to 60,181. The country crossed the 60,000 barrier earlier in February.
The ministry reported 8,510 new infections on March 1, Lari said, adding that 812 of them needed to be hospitalised.
The total number of COVID-19 cases registered in Iran stands at 1,639,679, according to the official data.
Moreover, 1,399,934 COVID-19 patients have recovered or been released from Iranian hospitals so far, though 3,727 remain in a critical condition, said the spokeswoman.
2.2 Biden administration treasury nominee continues tough talk on Iran, Russia
Wally Adeyemo, President Joe Biden’s nominee as Deputy Treasury Secretary, has underscored his commitment to enforcing Trump-era US sanctions against Iran and Russia, Reuters reported on March 2.
The new US administration’s continuation of the so-called maximum pressure campaign previously installed by the Trump government has not been taken well in Iran, which was hoping for a change in tune from Washington. Despite warm gestures after taking office in January, Biden has not budged on Iran, saying that it should re-enter the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) before the US will consider lifting sanctions. Tehran, meanwhile, said it is Washington, which left the deal in 2018 under Trump’s direction, which is at fault.
In a written response to queries from members of the Senate Finance Committee, the nominee said Iran should only have sanctions relief if it enters back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal.
Adeyemo said the US Treasury would look carefully at “any Iranian efforts to evade sanctions and abuse the international banking system” to fund terrorist activities abroad.
"Iran´s support for terrorism is a very serious concern and, if confirmed, I will work with colleagues at Treasury to closely monitor and seek to disrupt that
6 IRAN Country Report March 2021 www.intellinews.com
