Mustaqbal Slams 'Politicized' Response to Planes from Virus-Hit Iran

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday criticized what it described as “a major flaw in the measures that accompanied the arrival of the Iranian planes from the cities of Mashhad and Qom to Beirut,” amid the major outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Iran.

“The spread of the disease and the confirmation of new cases against which there had been warnings expose a major flaw in the measures that accompanied the arrival of the Iranian planes from the cities of Mashhad and Qom to Beirut from the very first day,” the bloc said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

“The pandemic has been dealt with lightly and with political backgrounds that are not compatible with the least public safety requirements,” it lamented.

The bloc said Lebanese authorities should have “established an airlift to transfer the Lebanese seeking to return home and no to leave things to the chaos which resulted in the spread of the infection from travelers who were not quarantined or who did not abide by the requirements of proper isolation.”

Accordingly, al-Mustaqbal called for “a decision that would spare the Lebanese the risk of the coronavirus” whether the threat is coming from “Iran or any other state in the world.”

Lebanon has so far confirmed thirteen coronavirus cases.

The Health Ministry said the country’s first coronavirus patient – a Lebanese woman who arrived from Iran -- tested negative for the virus on Tuesday as lab tests conducted for all suspected cases over the past 24 hours also indicated that they are not infected.