Habibollah Masoudi Farid, deputy for social affairs of Iran’s State Welfare Organization, estimated in a September 18 interview with Jam-e Jam newspaper that 51,000 Iranian children have lost their mother, father, or both to the COVID-19 pandemic. Masoudi Farid said that the Welfare Organization is able to support only those children who are in need of a guardian or are in dire economic circumstances, not every child who has lost a parent in the pandemic.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of the Islamic Republic, banned the import of coronavirus vaccines produced in the US and UK in January 2021. While according to official statistics, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of over 100,000 Iranians, Health Ministry officials say that the real death toll is likely two to three times the official figure.