President hopes lockdown to lead to refreshment of medical personnel

Tehran, Nov 18, IRNA – President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that he hoped that the lockdown on cities categorized as red zones would lead to refreshment of the medical personnel. Medical personnel are under pressure of relentless services in coronavirus pandemic, so the lockdown will create an opportunity for them to be refreshed, President Rouhani said at the cabinet session held in Tehran this morning. On November 14, Rouhani announced that new restrictions will be imposed across the country as of November 21 to cope with the pandemic. There is no shortage of medical equipment in the country; meanwhile, these are nine months that medical teams have been working, and now they need to rest and be refreshed, the President noted. Since its outbreak in December 2019, the coronavirus pandemic has killed over 1,340,000 worldwide, while the number of the dead in Iran has passed 42,000. The sole way to tackle the deadly virus is to observe the health protocols and social distancing, the President stressed. He further described the lockdown as a social warning that tells all to be responsible for their safety and duties as the virus is at new phase. The President had already said that the aim behind the restrictions is to give people a real view and touch of the critical situation and make them change lifestyle and breeze through the condition with possible minimum loss. Speaking about the present situation in the country at the pandemic, the President said the future will be better. Some think that when it is talked of the better conditions, it means negotiations with the US will be held, said the President while rejecting connection between the two issues. He said that today the atmosphere of threat has been changed into opportunity. He added that during the past three years [after the maximum pressure imposed on Iran by the US President Donald Trump], the country has been under economic war and economic terrorism. About the Trump administration, the President said it was a criminal government as it committed crimes against Iran and other independent countries across the world. Trump's rival at the 2020 presidential election won the November 3 election and became the next US president. Referring to the US failure in its anti-Iran measures, President Rouhani said although it could put economic pressure on "our people," it failed to defeat Iran to achieve its goals. President Rouhani said that Trump administration was aiming to cause famine in Iran by the maximum pressure. Pointing to the US May 2018 unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the President said Washington thought that the other signatories to the JCPOA would follow the US after its exit. All its political plans proposed to the United Nations or to the international bodies [against Iran] were failed, President Rouhani said. Dear Iranian people should know that the government sees itself responsible for keeping them safe and provide them with welfare, the President concluded.