In recent weeks, world leaders have ramped up measures to contain the ongoing pandemic of the novel coronavirus and its associated disease, Covid-19. These include the closure of borders, curfews, lockdowns, and allotting more power to governments and their security forces.
Many politicians, from Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu to Hungary’s Viktor Orban, have seen in this as a golden opportunity to portray themselves as strongmen and saviours of their nations while tightening their grip on power.
It is no surprise that the response to coronavirus, which has been described as a “threat to humanity” by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, has been used as a political tool. A more puzzling phenomenon is that a number of countries have also, for their own political ends, refused to respond to the health crisis adequately, with little regards to the damage inflicted on the local population.
Iran is a powerful case in point. Having failed to implement physical distancing and confinement measures in time, Tehran still defends its strategy of stalled action, justified officially by a mix of economic reasons and conspiracy theories; last month, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei referred to the virus as a US “biological attack”.
The 81 million-strong nation has become the epicentre of the outbreak in the Middle East, with official figures climbing beyond 50,000 cases and more than 3,000 deaths. Experts believe that the real numbers are actually much higher. Last month, satellite images circulated of coronavirus burial pits in Qom that are visible from space.
Yet Tehran has downplayed the severity of the epidemic from its onset, which was just a few days ahead of its recent parliamentary elections. The poll has gone down in Iranian history for its record-low participation and resulted in a sweeping victory for conservatives.
Last week, Tehran said it will finally start implementing tough measures to curb the spread of the virus, after having asked for financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund and requested that all economic sanctions be lifted.
But despite these necessary requests for economic help, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said that his country will refrain from reinforcing severe restrictions domestically, for economic reasons.
The actions of Iran’s leaders in the face of this dilemma (should they preserve the economy, or preserve the health of the people?) has further eroded the public’s trust in the state, and turned it into an international cautionary tale.
As Iran struggles to end its troubles at home, its proxies and allies in the Middle East have sought to deal with this health crisis in their own way. In some cases, this has led to decisive action, and in others, it has meant undermining any attempt to “flatten the curve”, as slowing the virus’s spread has become known in popular parlance.
What these diverging strategies have in common, however, is that they are less about eradicating a disease, and more about political survival at a time when Iran, the patron of this loose federation of proxies, appears to be in peril.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah, for instance, has distanced itself from Iran’s initial laissez-faire approach to coronavirus, despite claiming that Tehran is doing a great job to halt its spread. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has referred to the virus as an “invisible enemy” that must be quashed, an expression that has been used by world leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron and his American counterpart Donald Trump.
Some Iranian proxies have taken decisive action, whereas others have undermined any attempt to "flatten the curve"
Aligning himself with the international community, Nasrallah even called upon Lebanese society to closely follow the directives issued by the healthcare ministry, which the group controls, in a televised speech. The country has been under lockdown since mid-March, with flights temporarily suspended and physical distancing as well as curfews imposed nationwide. These measures seem to have reassured many Lebanese, and have resulted, at least for a while, in a positive boost for Beirut’s recently formed Hezbollah-aligned government, which was previously plagued by a mass protest movement against it that started last October.
In Iraq, where rival Shiite islamist militias are competing for power, coronavirus has become a new front on which these groups face off and compete. They were once united under the leadership of Qassem Suleimani, the now-deceased head of Al Quds Force, an elite component of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that managed its proxies abroad. Since Suleimani’s demise at the hands of the US in January, the groups have engaged in bitter rivalries for dominance.
More from Aya Iskandarani
Supporters of the populist Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr, who has aligned himself with Iran in the past months, have been encouraged by their leader to go about their business as usual and to continue visiting religious shrines in defiance of a nationwide curfew imposed by Iraqi authorities. This is in spite of the curfew measures being backed by Iraq’s highest Shia religious authority. Last month, Iran-aligned groups marched across Baghdad to flout the new rules for a religious event. These are populist moves to use coronavirus-fighting measures, as opposed to the virus itself, as a bogeyman around which to rally popular support and compete for followers within Iraq’s Shia community.
In Yemen, Iran’s other regional staging ground, the Houthis – a Tehran-backed rebel group – have closed schools in the areas under their rule to curb the spread of the virus, while simultaneously using the opportunity to recruit young men to their ranks. They are also promoting conspiracy theories about the pandemic. The fear-mongering will prove very damaging to curve-flattening efforts in a country that the UN described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis long before the start of the pandemic.
From Lebanon to Iraq to Yemen, coronavirus is testing the cohesion of Iran’s client groups, and challenging Tehran’s ability to maintain a coherent leadership position among them. In the face of a global crisis, national and local idiosyncrasies have prevailed, revealing the cracks within this supposedly harmonised axis of resistance.
Aya Iskandarani is a staff Comment writer at The National
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
The Facility’s Versatility
Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket
McIlroy's struggles in 2016/17
European Tour: 6 events, 16 rounds, 5 cuts, 0 wins, 3 top-10s, 4 top-25s, 72,5567 points, ranked 16th
PGA Tour: 8 events, 26 rounds, 6 cuts, 0 wins, 4 top-10s, 5 top-25s, 526 points, ranked 71st
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
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Results
2pm: Serve U – Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (Dirt) 1,400m; Winner: Violent Justice, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
2.30pm: Al Shafar Investment – Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,400m; Winner: Desert Wisdom, Bernardo Pinheiro, Ahmed Al Shemaili
3pm: Commercial Bank of Dubai – Handicap (TB) Dh68,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Fawaareq, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson
3.30pm: Shadwell – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Down On Da Bayou, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer
4pm: Dubai Real Estate Centre – Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Rakeez, Patrick Cosgrave, Bhupat Seemar
4.30pm: Al Redha Insurance Brokers – Handicap (TB) Dh78,000 (D) 1,800m; Winner: Capla Crusader, Bernardo Pinheiro, Rashed Bouresly
HAJJAN
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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More coverage from the Future Forum
Fixtures (all in UAE time)
Friday
Everton v Burnley 11pm
Saturday
Bournemouth v Tottenham Hotspur 3.30pm
West Ham United v Southampton 6pm
Wolves v Fulham 6pm
Cardiff City v Crystal Palace 8.30pm
Newcastle United v Liverpool 10.45pm
Sunday
Chelsea v Watford 5pm
Huddersfield v Manchester United 5pm
Arsenal v Brighton 7.30pm
Monday
Manchester City v Leicester City 11pm
Company%20Profile
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Ain Issa camp:
- Established in 2016
- Houses 13,309 people, 2,092 families, 62 per cent children
- Of the adult population, 49 per cent men, 51 per cent women (not including foreigners annexe)
- Most from Deir Ezzor and Raqqa
- 950 foreigners linked to ISIS and their families
- NGO Blumont runs camp management for the UN
- One of the nine official (UN recognised) camps in the region
Awar Qalb
Director: Jamal Salem
Starring: Abdulla Zaid, Joma Ali, Neven Madi and Khadija Sleiman
Two stars
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
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Afro%20salons
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ROUTE%20TO%20TITLE
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Fines for littering
In Dubai:
Dh200 for littering or spitting in the Dubai Metro
Dh500 for throwing cigarette butts or chewing gum on the floor, or littering from a vehicle.
Dh1,000 for littering on a beach, spitting in public places, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle
In Sharjah and other emirates
Dh500 for littering - including cigarette butts and chewing gum - in public places and beaches in Sharjah
Dh2,000 for littering in Sharjah deserts
Dh500 for littering from a vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah
Dh1,000 for littering from a car in Abu Dhabi
Dh1,000 to Dh100,000 for dumping waste in residential or public areas in Al Ain
Dh10,000 for littering at Ajman's beaches
UAE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Adel Al Hosani
Defenders: Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Mohammed Barghash, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hassan Al Mahrami, Yousef Jaber, Salem Rashid, Mohammed Al Attas, Alhassan Saleh
Midfielders: Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Majed Hassan, Yahya Nader, Ahmed Barman, Abdullah Hamad, Khalfan Mubarak, Khalil Al Hammadi, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Harib Abdallah, Mohammed Jumah, Yahya Al Ghassani
Forwards: Fabio De Lima, Caio Canedo, Ali Saleh, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri
SQUADS
UAE
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Mohamed Usman (vice-captain), Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Imran Haider, Tahir Mughal, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed, Fahad Nawaz, Abdul Shakoor, Sultan Ahmed, CP Rizwan
Nepal
Paras Khadka (captain), Gyanendra Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Pradeep Airee, Binod Bhandari, Avinash Bohara, Sundeep Jora, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Rohit Paudel, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi, Basant Regmi, Pawan Sarraf, Bhim Sharki, Aarif Sheikh
Sheer grandeur
The Owo building is 14 storeys high, seven of which are below ground, with the 30,000 square feet of amenities located subterranean, including a 16-seat private cinema, seven lounges, a gym, games room, treatment suites and bicycle storage.
A clear distinction between the residences and the Raffles hotel with the amenities operated separately.
