Iran rejects prisoner concerns, virus spreads in Gulf

TEHRAN - Questions about Iran's handling of its coronavirus outbreak continued as the death toll among Iranians reached 354, a rise of 63 in the past 24 hours. Neighbouring Bahrain reported 77 new coronavirus cases among its citizens evacuated from Iran, the Gulf state's health ministry said on Wednesday, for a total of 189 infections in that country.

Meanwhile Iranian officials rejected as hypocritical calls from the United Nations and the United States for political prisoners in Iran, including dozens of dual nationals and foreigners held mainly on spying charges, to be released from overcrowded and disease-ridden jails.

"The United States will hold the Iranian regime directly responsible for any American deaths," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. Washington has long demanded Iran release American citizens including father and son Baquer and Siamak Namazi, Navy veteran Michael White and former FBI agent Robert Levinson.

The US says Iran is holding its citizens and others from western states on trumped-up charges, in order to use them for diplomatic leverage. In his statement, Pompeo noted "deeply troubling" reports that the coronavirus had spread to prisons and said any nation offering aid to Tehran should seek a reciprocal humanitarian gesture of releasing prisoners.

"The Iranian regime recently released 70,000 prisoners due to the outbreak of COVID-19, demonstrating its ability to grant clemency and show mercy. Yet it continues to unjustly detain several American citizens, without cause or justification," he said.

Tehran denies it holds people on political grounds, and has mainly accused foreign prisoners of espionage. In response to Pompeo's statement, Iran's Foreign Ministry said Tehran had similar concerns about several dozen Iranians held in US prisons, mostly for violating US sanctions on Iran.

"The state of America's prisons and their health situation are worrying ... we are ready to bring the jailed Iranians in America back to Iran," spokesman Abbas Mousavi told an online news conference.

"American officials should pay serious attention to the health conditions of the Iranians who have been taken hostage in America. They have been imprisoned without any legal basis."

Regional epicenter

Iran is the fourth worst-affected nation from the outbreak of the novel coronavirus called COVID-19, after China, South Korea and Italy, and has been the epicenter of the epidemic in the Middle East region. Most cases of the coronavirus in Gulf states, and nearby countries such as Lebanon and Iraq, have been linked to people who either travelled to Iran personally, or were infected by people who had visited the Islamic Republic.

Bahrain's 77 new cases were among 165 individuals flown home on Tuesday in the first repatriation flight from Iran chartered by the health ministry. A second flight is set for Thursday. Those who did not test positive will be quarantined in a dedicated facility, the government communications office said in a separate statement.

There are no direct flights between Bahrain and Iran, the world's fourth most affected country, with more than 8,000 infections. Airlines are cancelling flights across the region as governments try to stem the spread of the virus.

On Wednesday, Kuwait reported three new cases, taking its total infections to 72, while Qatar reported 238 more coronavirus infections among individuals under quarantine in a residential compound.

A meeting of agriculture and water ministers of the Group of 20 major economies in Saudi Arabia, set from March 17 to March 19, has been postponed until further notice because of virus concerns, reported Reuters news agency. A G20 working group meeting scheduled for next week was also postponed, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Saudi Arabia recorded one new virus infection in an Egyptian transiting through Jeddah airport on his way to Cairo, state media said on Wednesday, taking its tally to 21.

Riyadh's preventive measures include locking down its eastern Qatif region, suspending the Umrah pilgrimage and travel bans on 14 countries including Iran. The causeway linking Saudi Arabia to Bahrain was closed on Saturday.

Turkey, a G20 member and a major transit hub between Europe, Asia and Africa, also confirmed its first case of the coronavirus on Wednesday, becoming the last major world economy to report an outbreak.