TEHRAN – Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) has announced new travel restrictions to the Islamic Republic, banning visitors from coronavirus hotspots in a bid to keep the highly transmissible Delta variant at bay.

On Sunday, Mohammad Hassan Zibakhsh, the CAO spokesman said that all flights to and from Brazil and Uruguay have been suspended due to the latest decision of the National Headquarters for Coronavirus Control, ISNA reported.

The official noted that flights are operated under special measures for travelers from 42 “very high-risk countries” that include Andorra, Argentina, Bolivia, Botswana, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Ecuador, Egypt, Swatini, Fiji, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Malaysia, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, The Netherlands, Oman, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Sicily, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Tanzania, Tunisia, the United Kingdom, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

For incoming passengers from the cited countries, they must be re-examined for laboratory PCR tests upon their arrival and that is in addition to negative PCR tests they have been passed before departure, he added.

The Delta variant first detected in India remains the most worrisome. It is striking unvaccinated populations in many countries and has proven capable of infecting a higher proportion of vaccinated people than its predecessors.

The WHO classifies Delta as a variant of concern, meaning it has been shown capable of increasing transmissibility, causing more severe disease, or reducing the benefit of vaccines and treatments.

AFM