Bahraini Citizens Trapped in Iran During COVID-19 Outbreak: A Timeline

TIMELINE OF THE CRISIS:

• 5 March:
  • 62 year old Bahraini Hasan Mansoor Hasan becomes first Bahraini to die in Iran since the crisis began.

• 6 March: 
  • King Hamed instructs Shi’a Jafari Endowments to pay the expenses of Bahrainis trapped in Iran.

• 7 March:
  • 82 year old Bahraini Ali Mohamed Ibrahim bin Ali dies in Iran, according to his reports from his son.

• 8 March:
  • Bahrain’s Parliament votes not to return stranded citizens from Iran.

• 10 March:
  • 54 year old Bahraini Moosa Abduljabar Al Khoohaji dies in Iran, according to local news.
  • Bahraini press announces the commencement of payments to citizens stranded in Iran from the Jafari Endowments.
  • Bahrain’s Minister of Health announces the arrival of 165 citizens from Iran on a Salam Air flight organised by the Ministry of Health.

• 11 March:
  • Minister of Health announces that 77 of the 165 individuals returned the previous day have been found to be infected with the Coronavirus.
  • Minister of Health announces the next flight will commence on Thursday 12 March.

• 12 March: 
  • Scheduled return flight fails to materialise, without any justification from Bahrain’s government.

• 15 March:
  • 60 year old Abdul Husain Mansoor Ali Naser dies in Iran, according to Bahrain Mirror.

• 17 March: 
  • Second flight promised to stranded families also fails to materialise.

• 16 March:
  • 62 year old Sayed Hameed Mustafa dies in Iran, according to reports from activist Ebtisam Al Saegh.

• 18 March:
  • Ministry of Health announces that third flight scheduled for 19 March has been cancelled by the airline
    
• 23 March:
  • Ministry of Health announces that fourth flight scheduled for 23 March has been cancelled due to ‘logistical reasons’ by the company contracted to organise the trip.
• 25 March:
  • Ministry of Health announces that the second group of Bahrainis trapped in Iran returned on the night of 25 March on the Iranian Kish Airline. It has been reported that 63 passengers were on the flight, 30% of whom were infected with the virus.
• 27 March:
  • 76 stranded Bahrainis who attempted to travel home independently via Oman are prevented from boarding a flight back to Manama.
  • On the same day, 31 more stranded Bahrainis are prevented from boarding a plane from Doha back to Bahrain. The Bahraini government refuses Qatar’s offer to cover the costs of chartering a flight home for their stranded citizens, accusing Qatar of “meddling” with their repatriation efforts.
• 28 March:
  • Mohsen Al Jadeed becomes 6th Bahraini confirmed to have passed away in Iran
  • Bahrainis stranded in Qatar and Oman return home. None of those returning from Qatar are found to be infected with coronavirus.
• 30 March:
  • Bahrain announces a “detailed two-month evancuation plan” to bring back 3027 Bahrainis from abroad, including 1630 from Iran.
  • 18 flights have been arranged to bring back those in Iran, which are as follows:
    • Tehran: 6 April, 27 April , 4 May, 18 May
    • Shiraz: 13 April
    • Mashhad: 2 April, 9 April, 16 April, 23 April, 3- April, 7 May, 14 May, 21 May, 25 May, 28 May
    • Lorestan: 30 March, 20 April, 11 May
• 2 April: 
  • Ministry of Health announces that the fourth group of Bahrainis trapped in Iran returned on 2 April 2020.