The coronavirus pandemic has reached almost every country in the world. The pandemic and its response have had several short-term as well as long term impacts on human health, society, economy, and environment. For instance, the severe lockdowns imposed in certain countries have caused a widespread economic and humanitarian crisis. Therefore, it is crucial to draw important lessons from this pandemic to amplify our future preparedness and response capacities to similar situations. In this paper, the response strategies utilized by Iraq and Iran is analyzed with comparison of the impacts and outcomes of each strategy used for controlling the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The results show that travel ban, restrictive containment, and supports from the international community in controlling the spread of the virus had a more positive impact in Iraq compared to Iran.