The three states of the South Caucasus are worried about the spread of coronavirus in neighboring Iran. 

Ministry of foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan recommends that Azerbaijani citizens exercise maximum caution when visiting Iran, taking into account the spread of the coronavirus in this country. If you have any problems, it is recommended that Azerbaijani citizens contact the country's embassy in Tehran or the Consulate General in Tabriz, according to Turan. 

Armenia made similar statement, News.am reports. "Armenia is closely monitoring the outbreaks and prevalence of the new type of Coronavirus worldwide," says Armenian Foreign Ministry's statement. “In order to comprehensively assess the situation in our region, we closely cooperate with the Iranian and Georgian partners to exchange information, as well as to take necessary steps and consider possible scenarios. Information on further steps will be provided additionally. We urge the citizens of Armenia to refrain from visiting Iran without urgent need, and call on our citizens who are currently in Iran to contact the Embassy of Armenia to Iran,” the message reads. "The government of the Republic of Armenia (RA) will adopt a decision to suspend communication with Iran for two weeks, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan informed in his turn on Facebook today. "Based on Article 16 of the RA Law on State Border, which deals with the temporary termination of communication along the state border in the event of the risk of the spread of infectious diseases, the government will adopt a special detached decision to suspend communication with the Islamic Republic of Iran for two weeks," he wrote, above all. “In particular, the Iran-Armenia air communication and the entry of people to Armenia through the Meghri border crossing will be stopped," Pashinyan wrote. 

The Government of Georgia has made a decision to suspend direct flights with Iran amid the recent coronavirus outbreak. The Foreign Ministry announced yesterday that this aims to prevent the possibility of the spread of the China-born virus to Georgia and to protect its citizens. It also stated that the government of Iran is making preventive measures, including the screening of outbound passengers. Nevertheless, the Georgian authorities made a decision to temporarily restrict travel to and from Iran for now.

On February 23 Turkey closed her border with Iran. Pakistan and Afghanistan did the same.   

More than 40 Iranian citizens are infected at the moment. Eight have died already. This is the highest figure outside China. 

#GEORGIA

#

#

#

#SECURITY

#HEALTH

#CORONAVIRUS

24.02.2020 08:44