Iran’s Regime: A Threat For The Global Public Health – OpEd

The main opposition force of Iran’s regime, the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), said the Coronavirus death toll had exceeded 1,000 by 6 pm on Monday, March 2. This is a very cautious assessment based on the credible reports received by the resistance networks inside Iran. However, based on other factors, the statistics are much higher than that. Regarding the catastrophic situation that is occurring in towns and villages of Gilan province, the Iranian MP Gholamali Jafarzadeh stated: “No one knows the exact number of patients and the dead, but official statistics are something of a joke”.

The Secretary-General of the Nurse Forum informed: “Statistics for patients, nurses, and other affected medical staff remains completely confidential. Even the managers of the hospitals are uninformed and there is ‘only one specific channel’ for the related information”.

This is a crime against humanity. “Some people were advising us to postpone the elections due to the spread of the Coronavirus to stop its further expansion or at least postpone them in Qom, but I did not accept any of them”, Rahmani Fazli, the Interior Minister, admitted during a press conference held on February 23.

Iran: Focal point of COVID-19 outbreak

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 97 infected people have traveled from Iran to the bordering countries and other territories such as Sweden and New Zealand. “Iran has become a focal point for the spread of the Coronavirus in the Middle East”, reported Los Angeles Times.  On February 24, the WHO increased the international warning level from “high” to “very high”. As a result, more countries are closing their common borders with Iran and banning travelers from there.

Two situations have contributed to raising people’s anger. On the one hand, the regime’s lies and concealment about the real situation and, on the other hand, the lack of the most essential material for preventing the spread of the disease such as defective masks and disinfectants. This is interpreted as a result of mafia activities by the regime, just to get more out of this crisis.

Another cause of people’s outrage is that the Corona detection kits, which are very limited and expensive and are first devoted to those close to the regime, leaving the population at greater risk such and doctors and nurses without access to it.  Meanwhile, the regime is refusing to seek help from other countries, contributing to social instability. Proof of this the graffiti that have appeared on the streets with phrases like “Supreme Leader’s Corona, cause of people’s death”.

Objection inside the regime

Unrealistic and false statistics have also raised voices within the regime. Jafarzadeh Imenabadi, a member of the Parliament, has desperately asked the officers to provide real figures to the citizens. He emphasized that he had taken statistics from several cemeteries in Tehran and Rasht. “Cemeteries cannot be hidden”, he claimed. Meanwhile, Nahid Khodakarami, head of the Tehran City Council Health Committee, was confirming that the number of infected people might be between 10,000 and 15,000.

The fact that Iran’s regime is disguising and lying to people and the world has become clear for the international community. “The Iranian regime does not want to provide accurate information about Coronavirus, and I am worried that it hiding important information”, said Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State of the United States, at the congressional hearing.

While the regime is still lying about the Mahan Air’s flights to China until February 28 and claiming that their purpose was to bring COVID-19 test kits, most of the medical facilities are available to the Revolutionary Guards, and most of the medical services, including the diagnostic kits, are dedicated to the regime and members of parliament and the guards.