The Heat: COVID-19 – Iran and U.S. economy

The Heat

A woman wearing a protective face mask and gloves to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus carries her purchases as she leaves a store which sells dates, a favorite fruit for the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, in southern Tehran, Iran, Monday, April 27, 2020. In Iran, the country that is hit worst in the Middle East by the coronavirus, all religious gathering, congregational prayers and communal Iftar servings, a meal eaten at sunset to break the fast, remain forbidden in the Ramadan and also holy shrines and religious centers also continue to be closed until at least May 4. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iran is one of the worst hit countries in the Middle East with more than 100,000 cases of COVID-19.

In April, President Hassan Rouhani started the process of reopening the country and recently mosques reopened their doors.

And, April will be remembered as the worst month for American workers since the Great Depression.  The U.S. unemployment rate hit 14.7% in April, the highest rate since the 1930’s.

More than 20-million jobs were lost last month as the result of the coronavirus pandemic.

To discuss all of this:

  • John Quelch is the Dean of the Miami Herbert Business School at the University of Miami.
  • Bobby Naderi is an Iranian journalist and political commentator.
  • Barbara Slavin is the director of the Future of Iran Initiative and nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council. 

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