A senior Iranian official has rejected foreign aid to deal with the spread of the coronavirus following a request from a French-based medical organization as the death toll from the disease rose to nearly 2,000.
"Due to Iran's depletion of the national army against viruses and the full use of medical capabilities of the armed forces, Iran now does not require foreign forces to install medical beds," Alireza Vahabzadeh, Iran's Minister of Health, said on Twitter. "No, and their presence was rejected."
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Sunday it plans to send a nine-member team and equipment to set up a 50-bed hospital. This has sparked opposition from the ultra-conservative center in the Islamic Republic, which has accused MSF staff of "espionage".
Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said earlier that 1762 new cases have been confirmed in Iran in the last 24 hours and that 24,811 people are now known to have contracted the new coronavirus.
At the same time, he announced that there were 122 new deaths from the virus, bringing the official death toll to 1934 in one of the world's worst affected countries. .
Iran has the fourth-highest official death toll from the Corona virus after Italy, China and Spain, but unlike those countries, Iran has not imposed any restrictions on its citizens.
Instead, the country is in for two weeks of New Year's holidays as its streets are full of people traveling to visit their brothers.
Despite calls from authorities to stay indoors and close shopping and entertainment centers, many are still on the road this year.
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