According to Mehrdad Jamal Arvanaghi, given the current circumstances and the increase in domestic demand for face masks, exports of the product have been banned so the local market remains balanced.
The Ministry of Health’s request to ban the export of cotton face masks was agreed upon by the Market Regulation Headquarters in February.
“The committee responsible for issuing export taxes affiliated with the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran will soon take necessary measures in this respect,” Mohammad Reza Kalami, the spokesman of the headquarters, said at the time.
The Iranian government in early March said it banned the export of face masks for three months and ordered factories to ramp up production.
The Regional Emergency Director for the World Health Organization (WHO) Richard Brennan has estimated that Iran is capable of curbing the coronavirus outbreak within a month. According to him, Iran's first positive case of coronavirus registered on February 19, 2020.
He has urged Iran to change its anti-coronavirus strategies to tackle the virus successfully.
Brennan has also hailed the taken measures in the country in the fight against the lethal virus.
As reported, 110,092 people have so far been diagnosed with COVID-19 epidemic around the world, with the death toll having jumped to 3,831.
MNA/4873360