Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Saturday that lockdowns meant to curb the spread of the pandemic could lead to street protests over economic problems, his website reported.
In a regular Cabinet meeting on the coronavirus, Rouhani said the easiest way to fight the virus is to close off all activities. But “then people come and stage protests because of chaos, famine and problems," he said.
Confirmed virus cases and deaths reached a record low in May after mass lockdowns were imposed in Iran. But since then, the numbers have spiked again, with officials saying a combination of improved testing and re-openings has driven the surge.
Rouhani urged that ceremonies be held with a limited number of participants. Many experts blame an increase in virus-related deaths over the past week on wedding and funeral ceremonies with large crowds.
Ali Reza Zali, the head of Tehran's virus task force, in a letter to officials banned any conferences, festivals or exhibitions and limited participants in wedding and funeral ceremonies to 10.
Earlier this week, Iran reported 221 fatalities in a 24-hour period, the highest single-day death toll.
Rouhani's remarks came as many experts urged a halt to business activities to stop the increase in virus related deaths that have exceeded 12,600 out of 255,117 confirmed cases.
Iranian officials have been particularly eager to remove restrictions on its economy, already crippled by sanctions the U.S. imposed after the Trump administration’s 2018 withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear agreement.
A sharp rise in subsidized gasoline prices led to four days of unrest in cities and towns across Iran in November, which rights group Amnesty International said led to more than 300 people being killed in clashes with police and security forces.
Tehran has yet to release any official statistics about the scale of the unrest, though in June the government acknowledged that the security forces shot and killed protesters and a lawmaker said that 230 people were killed in the anti-government protests.
PARIS (AP) — A man wearing a fake explosive vest and making threats was detained Friday outside the Iranian Consulate in Paris after police locked down the area, authorities said. His motive was unclear.
The incident came at a time of heightened tensions in the Middle East, and as Paris is on high security alert as it gears up to host the Summer Olympics in three months.
The suspect had been convicted for setting fire to the Iranian Embassy gates last year in what he called a protest against the Iranian government, according to the Paris prosecutor's office. The consulate and embassy are part of the same compound, in the ritzy 16th arrondissement of Paris and near the Seine River.
Iranian authorities did not comment publicly on what happened.
The man was spotted around 11 a.m. outside the consulate, and a witness told police he had a grenade and an explosives vest, according to a Paris police official. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to be publicly named under police policy.
Elite police forces and soldiers surrounded the area and barred traffic during an hours-long security intervention.
Inside the consulate, the man “allegedly made threats of violent acts,” but then left the building alone, the prosecutor's office said in a statement to The Associated Press.
Police then detained him, and found no weapons on him or his vehicle, the police official said. The prosecutor's office said the explosives vest turned out to be fake.
The suspect is in custody, and the Paris prosecutor's office opened an investigation into death threats. It said investigators are trying to determine the motive for the action.
Authorities did not name the suspect but said he was born in Iran in 1963.
He was known to authorities and received an eight-month suspended sentence by the Paris Criminal Court in October for setting car tires on fire at the gate of the Iranian Embassy in Paris in September 2023. He said it was a protest act against the Iranian government, according to the prosecutor's office.
As part of that sentence, the prosecutor’s statement said, the man was also banned from carrying a weapon and had a two-year ban on appearing in the 16th arrondissement. The sentence was pending because of the defendant’s appeal, it added.
Associated Press writers Thomas Adamson in Paris and Barbara Surk in Nice, France, contributed to this report.
Elite police officers from the BRI (Brigade de recherche et d'intervention) or Research and Intervention Brigade, leave after an operation near the Iranian consulate, Friday, April 19, 2024 in Paris. Paris police said they are carrying out an operation at the Iranian consulate after a witness reported seeing a man outside carrying a grenade and an explosives vest. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
Elite police officers from the BRI (Brigade de recherche et d'intervention) or Research and Intervention Brigade, leave after an operation near the Iranian consulate, Friday, April 19, 2024 in Paris. Paris police said they are carrying out an operation at the Iranian consulate after a witness reported seeing a man outside carrying a grenade and an explosives vest. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
Police officers patrol near the Iranian consulate, Friday, April 19, 2024 a in Paris. Paris police said Friday they are carrying out an operation at the Iranian consulate after a witness reported seeing a man outside carrying a grenade and an explosives vest. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
Police officers and rescue worker wait for instructions bar the the Iranian consulate, Friday, April 19, 2024 a in Paris. Paris police said Friday they are carrying out an operation at the Iranian consulate after a witness reported seeing a man outside carrying a grenade and an explosives vest. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
