EAM S Jaishankar ensures safe return of Indians trapped in Iran due to COVID-19

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Sunday gave an assurance that they are working on the issue of all the Indians who are stuck in Iran due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Taking to Twitter, he stated that the government is working with the Iranian authorities and will be setting up a screening process for the return of the Indians who are stranded in Iran. 

The EAM in his tweet further stated that he is asking India's Ambassador to Iran Dhamu Gaddam to keep all those who are concerned updated. This comes after several people appealed from different quarters for the government's intervention on the safe return of around 100 fishermen trapped in Iran. 

 

Kerala CM writes to EAM

On Sunday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote a letter to External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar asking him to arrange for the safe return of the fishermen trapped near Iran due to the Coronavirus outbreak. He stated that over a hundred fishermen had been trapped in Azalur in Iran in the midst of the Coronavirus outbreak and that over sixty of them belonged to Kerala.

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Cases in Iran surpasses over 900

According to reports, Iran has confirmed 11 new Coronavirus deaths and the outbreak has also claimed the lives of 54 people till now. Kianush Jahanpur, the spokesman for the health ministry also said that there were 385 new cases of infected people in the last 24 hours due to which the total number increased to 978. He further even urged Iranians to avoid any unnecessary trips and stay at home. 

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Coronavirus outbreak

According to the latest report, 35 new deaths in China due to coronavirus infections have been confirmed, taking the total death toll to nearly 2,870. The National Health Commission also tallied 573 new cases, an increase from the previous day, bringing the total number of infections to 79,824. While most of the cases are from Hubei province of China and the city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, other countries, including Iran, Italy, Japan and the Philippines, have also now reported deaths related to COVID-19.

Read: Twelve more people test positive for deadly Coronavirus in UK

First detected in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei Province of China, the virus outbreak has now spread across 20 countries since December 2019. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has dubbed the virus as COVID-19. 

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