Iraq and Iran have recently been seeing a rising trend in poverty rates due to the destructive effects of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report by an Ankara-based think-tank. Poverty in Iraq, which had amounted to 20% in 2018, or nearly 10 million people, has risen to 31.7% following the COVID-19 outbreak, Serife Akinci, an expert on Middle East and African Economies Studies, said in the report published by ...