Oman’s Khasab port suspends Iranian shipping on coronavirus fears: Authority

Oman’s Khasab port will suspend the import and export of all Iranian goods from Wednesday, February 26, the port’s operator Marafi said on Twitter on Tuesday.

Oman reported its first two cases of coronavirus on Monday, and halted all flights to and from Iran. The two infected Omani women had recently returned from Iran, which is currently battling the deadliest outbreak for the virus outside of China.

Countries across the region have already begun to break travel links with Iran as the country becomes an epicenter for the virus. Eleven countries across the region have closed their air and land borders to the Islamic Republic, including the vast majority of its neighbors.

Experts have said that the number of infected people in Iran is “likely in the hundreds,” significantly higher than numbers reported by authorities. Iranian parliament member Ahmad Amirabadi Farhani said on Monday the coronavirus had killed around 50 people in Qom, the city he represents.

“Up until last night, around 50 people died from coronavirus. The health minister is to blame,” Farhani said on Monday, according to the semi-official ILNA news agency.