Iran imposes outright ban on travel in Ramadan holidays to curb coronavirus

The Iranian government has imposed an outright ban on all domestic travels during the holidays marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan beginning May 11 in a bid to contain a fresh surge in coronavirus infections.

Iran’s National Headquarters for Managing and Fighting Coronavirus announced the decision following a Thursday meeting attended by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

The four-day blanket ban would end on midday May 15 and would cover all intercity travels in Iran, said a report by Fars news agency.

It said the ban would not distinguish between cities based on a color-coding system which shows the severity of coronavirus outbreaks in various locations in Iran.

The announcement comes as the government struggles to contain a fourth wave of coronavirus in Iran nearly 15 months after the disease started to spread in the country.