Iran is trying to revive the beaten economy due to coronavirus restrictions despite a surge in new infections that have plunged into the country’s highest point every day in late March. Iran has closed most of its economy and also its religious sites after it was declared in February as the largest disease site in the Middle East. With the downfall in the number of daily positive cases, the lockdowns of places such as local marketplaces and shopping malls began to lift in April, which was thereafter followed by restaurants in May. However, this has not proved to be a wise decision for the country’s public health as experts are calling this as an open invitation to the second wave of infection spreading!
Iran’s economy is popularly characterized by a significant portion of the oil and gas industry, the agriculture and services industry, and the manufacturing and financial services industry. In addition, Iran ranks 2nd in natural gas reserves and 4th in proven crude oil reserves (as of 2017 sourced by the International Monetary Fund). In addition, the emergence of the coronavirus, which recently erupted in China, has threatened the country’s macroeconomic solidity. Right after the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic in the country, the government has already been criticized for not keeping the outbreak transparent.
The government is still looking for a solution to cope with the spread of this epidemic without affecting the economy. In the end of March 2020, the country closed all businesses except mandatory, and banned cross-city travel to slow the spread of pandemic in the city. This was expected to disrupt business operations and have a significant negative impact on the national economy. As a result of which, Iran has recently lifted the bans on local marketplaces and malls with a view to revive the economy. But this, turned out to be a threatening step for the public’s health.
The oil industry is one of the industries primarily contributing to the building blocks of the national economy. The government’s sanctions against the Iranian government in 2020 have made the industry more volatile, and these sanctions prevent Iran from selling oil in the international market. Moreover, Iran faces several challenges related to the rapid spread of COVID-19 and expects the economy to collapse. The epidemic has had a negative impact on oil production capacity in several countries, but Iran has had little impact on oil production. On March 4, 2020, the Iranian Ministry of Oil announced that the occurrence of COVID-19 in its home country did not affect Iran’s oil and gas production.
The Health Ministry Spokesman of Iran Kianush Jahanpur said in an interview, “More serious compliance with physical distancing and more serious and smarter use of masks is an absolute necessity in the days ahead,”
