With the spread of Coronavirus in several countries around the world, the spokesperson of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ali Rabiei, announced that the flights to and from China are temporarily suspended until further notice.

The decision was made in an emergency government meeting on Friday led by Vice President Jahangiri.

According to ISNA, the meeting was held “in response to the spread of Coronavirus in different countries and the WHO warning” and in order to “take necessary measures to prevent the virus from entering the country and ways to fight the virus”.

Rabiei told the News Channel: “The decision has been conveyed to all the governors, that there will be agents of the Ministry of Health present at all the borders with laboratories and specialists.”

He emphasized that all the “land, air, and sea borders” of Iran will be controlled.

He added: “The families of Iranians who are in China need not worry. The Ministry of Roads and City Planning has been ordered to either through a third-party plane or one of our own equipped planes with a medical team on board, transfer home those Iranians who have registered to come back.

He also claimed that so far, no cases of Coronavirus have been observed in Iran, and added that the report about the virus entering Iran is just a rumor.

The Minister of Health, Saeed Namaki, also talked about the new measures to fight the spread of the virus, and regarding the Iranians currently in Wuhan, he said: “According to the government of China have not been infected.”