Advertisement

China coronavirus aid arrives in Tehran as Iran rebuffs US offers

  • Shipment includes diagnostic tests for disease that has already claimed at least 34 Iranian lives
  • Chinese foreign minister underlines his country’s commitment to help with epidemic prevention and control

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
A nurse cares for patients in a ward set aside for people infected with the coronavirus, at Forqani Hospital in Qom. Photo: Mizan News Agency via AP
Chinese medical specialists and supplies have arrived in Iran, as the country struggles to contain a coronavirus outbreak that has already infected 388 Iranians, the highest total outside China.
Advertisement

The aid arrived as Iran dismissed offers of help from the United States.

Chinese ambassador to Iran Chang Hua confirmed on his social media account on Saturday that the specialists and a shipment of diagnostic kits had landed in the Iranian capital Tehran.

“The first cargo has entered Iran and further assistance will be sent. Be strong Iran,” Chang wrote.

The coronavirus has spread rapidly in Iran, with BBC Persian reporting that the country’s real death toll could be six times higher than the official count at the time of 34. Iran said on Saturday that 43 people had died and 593 were infected.

Several high-ranking Iranian officials have also contracted the pneumonia-like virus, including Vice-President for Women’s Affairs Masoumeh Ebtekar and deputy health minister Iraj Harirchi.

Advertisement