United they stand.

Byline: Mujtaba Momeni and Khadijah Ahmad

Unity and resilience. These attributes, in a nutshell, encapsulate the effort of the Iranian people against the novel coronavirus during its first wave. The absence of Nowruz celebrations was unable to dispirit the public, and the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President, Hassan Rouhani remained resolute in their commitment to overcome the daunting disease while marking the beginning of the Persian New Year.

Despite bearing the brunt of hardening US sanctions amidst the COVID-19 crisis, Iran was praised for adopting a coordinated approach to combat the virus. After concluding a technical support mission to Iran, the Regional Emergency Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region at the WHO remarked that the country's policies were 'evolving in the right direction.' Notwithstanding claims that Iranian authorities delayed their confrontation of COVID-19, political analyst Mr Mohammad Marandi asserts that the government acknowledged the existence of the virus, and acted promptly to fight it since the discovery of patient zero. Despite initially-circulated conspiracy theories of the virus being an American bioweapon, the rhetoric later changed owing to the efforts of Iran's clergy, the armed forces and Iranian tech firms, amongst others.

The senior clergy actively dispelled religious fanatics and assisted authorities in enforcing limitations on rituals and funerals. For the first time since the 1979 revolution, the clerical establishment accepted, and also justified to the public, the closure of holy shrines, mosques, and seminaries, and the suspension of Friday sermons. Ayatollah Hossein Mousavi Tabrizi, a senior cleric, commented that protecting one's life and that of others took precedence over obligations such as daily prayers under the injunctions of Islam. Religious ceremonies for victims of COVID-19 also underwent a significant change.

The armed forces in Iran rushed to contain the outbreak. The Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics commenced the production of medical equipment and supplies. The Artesh moved to set up temporary field hospitals and decontaminate public spaces. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Basij militia mobilised their forces and formed special committees to perform door-to-door screenings, prevent hoarding of medical supplies, produce essential protective equipment, publish and circulate educational material regarding the...