Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey close borders with Iran over Coronavirus fear

In a bid to curb the spread of Coronavirus, Turkey on Sunday closed its borders with neighbouring Iran joining Pakistan and Jordan. Meanwhile, Afghanistan announced that it would suspend all its flight operations with Iran after the number of cases in the Shiite country surged recently. 

Turkey’s Health Minister Fahrettin Koca while speaking to international media said that the country has decided to shut the land border temporarily after an increase in the number of cases in Iran. He added that the country was alarmed by growing numbers of cases and was forced to take the measures after speaking with Iranian authorities.  

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Flights and railways affected

According to reports, the land and railways borders will be closed from 5 pm local time on Sunday. Air traffic from Iran into Turkey was halted from 8 pm local time on Sunday though departures could continue. Meanwhile, Turkey’s Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan reportedly said exports from Turkey to Iran would continue in a ‘controlled way’.

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Jordan has reportedly barred travellers to Tehran in a preemptive measure. The country’s Minister of State Affairs, Amjad Adayleh, said the decision was part of preemptive measures, following the risk in cases of Coronavirus in South Korea, Iran and China. He further told international media that the temporary ban would be imposed on all Non-Jordanian citizens coming from the three nations. The minister said that even citizens who come from those countries would be quarantined for two weeks to ensure that they haven’t contracted the virus on their trip abroad. 

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Afghanistan, meanwhile has also halted travel to and from Iran over fears of the virus. The office of National Security Council of Afghanistan said in a statement that to prevent the spread of novel Coronavirus and protect it’s public, Afghanistan has suspended all movement, both air and ground, to and from Iran.

Pakistan has reportedly temporarily closed its border with the neighbouring country and decided not to allow anyone to cross into the country without strict screening at the entry points in Balochistan province. Pakistan's provincial Home Minister Ziaullah Langove told Pakistani media that the country has closed all the five entry points, Taftan, Gwadar, Turbat, Panjgur and Washuk, at the border with Iran on Sunday.