TEHRAN – Prayer services and practices were held in three churches of Tehran on Sunday in compliance with health protocols and social distancing rules, IRNA news agency reported.

A prayer service for Christians living in Tehran was held at the Saint Sarkis Cathedral Church with the speech of the Sepuh Sargsyan, archbishop of the Armenian Diocese of Tehran. 

The prayer service was also held at St Gregory the Great RC Church. 

It is worth noting that the Assyrian Tuma Church was also disinfected for Christians.

The national headquarters for combating coronavirus has agreed to reopen the courtyards of the holy shrine on May 25, the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS) reopened after more than two months of closure due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Following the official approval of the coronavirus epidemic in Iran, the national headquarters for combating coronavirus promoted the “Stay Home Movement” after the closure of schools and universities, so that the whole country could act based on scientific and effective steps to combat the virus.

On March 15, the closure of holy shrines and religious places across the country hit the news.

Currently, the major shrines of Imam Reza and Hazrat Masoumeh are allowed to open starting from an hour after dawn until an hour before dusk.

The number of people diagnosed with coronavirus in Iran reached 175,927 on Tuesday, of whom 8,425 have died and 138,457 recovered so far. Over the past 24 hours, 2,095 new cases of people having the virus have been identified, and 74 died, Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said.

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