Coronavirus Outbreak Leads to Canceled Religious Customs in Iran

As coronavirus spreads further and further in Iran, the country has canceled important religious customs in an attempt to contain the outbreak. 

More than 3,000 Cases in Iran 

Last week’s Friday prayers were canceled in Iran due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country. The main congregational day of prayer in Islam, and an important event for all, although officials have decided that containing the new COVID-19 takes priority. 

Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour announced at a news conference in Tehran that the number of infected has gone up – saying there were now more than 3,000 cases spread across the entire country, with 92 cases of death due to the virus so far. 

“The virus has no wings to fly. We are the ones who transfer it to each other,” Jahanpour said regarding experts’ worries that Tehran might be underreporting the actual amount of infected. 

“This disease is a widespread one. It encompasses almost all of our provinces and is, in a sense, a global disease that many countries in the world have become infected with, and we must work together to tackle this problem as quickly as possible,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, acknowledging the spread of the virus throughout the Islamic Republic, with some of the infected even being leaders inside Iran’s civilian government and Shiite theocracy. 

While Iran has canceled some of its most important religious events due to the virus, Saudi Arabia has done the same in fear of the virus spreading, with Deputy Health Minister Abdel-Fattah Mashat saying that visitors to Mecca would also be barred from performing the pilgrimage, also known as umrah.