http://dx.doi.org/10.17176/20210312-153956-0 https://verfassungsblog.de/irans-covid-19-response-who-calls-the-shots/ Iran’s COVID-19 Response: Who Calls the Shots? Tofighi Darian, Marzieh eng 2021-03-12 electronic resource text/html ddc:342 COVID 19 Iran Verfassungsblog Verfassungsblog--2366-7044 CC BY-SA 4.0 As of January 26, 2021, Iran has reported a total of 57,481 death and more than 1,300,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, making it the hardest-hit country in the Middle East. After days of denial, Iranian officials finally confirmed the first COVID-19 related death on February 19, 2020. The government’s response in the early days of the pandemic was a preview of what was to come: refusing to quarantine the city of Qom, the first epicenter of COVID in Iran; rejecting the call to postpone the Parliamentary elections; and continuing to receive flights from China, all resulting in the quick spread of the virus across the country.