Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeIran News NowGlance at Iran’s State Media: Amplifying COVID-19 and Economic Crises

Glance at Iran’s State Media: Amplifying COVID-19 and Economic Crises

iran-state-run-media-admit-to-regimes-inhumane-covid-19-policy

Iran’s state-run media on Thursday once again acknowledged part of Iran’s crises. They mainly acknowledged the severity of Iran’s Covid-19 and economic crises. “We witnessed our huge difference with other countries in terms of controlling the novel coronavirus,” wrote the state-run Jahan-e Sanat daily on September 23.

“The ominous Covid-19 entered towards the end of 2019 and continued throughout 2020 and 2021. It showed after decades our governing and management of a crisis in the country to the showcase of competition with other countries,” Jahan-e Sanat adds.

The regime did not fail in managing the Covid-19 crisis. It deliberately used the virus and its mass casualties as a barrier against the popular protests which broke out in 2018 and continued throughout 2019. The regime’s deliberate inaction and refusal to purchase vaccines has now increased people’s hatred.

“Unprecedented death toll over the past two months and a collapsing healthcare system have led people to point the finger at the authorities’ delay in advancing the vaccination program. The magnitude of the crisis was such that some doctors did not fear criticizing the performance of the Ministry of Health,” Jahan-e Sanat wrote in this regard.

Iran: Regime’s role in escalating numbers of Covid-19 deaths is fueling public anger

“Unlike the authorities, most people blame corruption and economic mismanagement for the low and deplorable vaccination rates,” Jahan-e Sanat acknowledged people do not buy the regime officials’ claims of sanctions hindering taking appropriate actions against the Covid-19.

The regime’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, banned vaccines in January 2021. He also insisted on producing the so-called domestic “vaccines.” The domestic vaccine was produced by the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order (EIKO), a huge financial institution Khamenei controls. Now state rune media acknowledge a part of Khamenei’s scheme to further plunder people by insisting on producing the domestic vaccines.

“Two weeks ago, Ali Tajernia told Sharq daily: ‘It seems that Barakat had presold its vaccine. It seems that the reason for not wanting to buy the vaccine from western countries was that Barakat had received 200,000 Tomans for each dose of the vaccine. If we multiply this by 120 million vaccines, Barkat took over $ 1 billion from the government funds,’” the state-run Mardom Salarie daily wrote on Thursday.

Covid-19 Crisis and Economy

The Covid-19 crisis also amplified people’s economic problems. “No one knows how many people have died due to the novel coronavirus. Ho many people were forced to forgo treatments when they saw the 700-800 thousand tomans cost of Remdesivir or the high prices one night at the hospital. Some people abstain from purchasing lemon, ginger, and carrot, under the pressure of the unbridled inflation,” wrote the state-run Sepid on September 23.

“No one knows what happened during the consent Covid-19 peaks in slums in marginalized areas and suburbs. Official and unofficial statistics indicate a large population is marginalized. Statistics put the number of slum dwellers at between 11 and 25 million and even more, with an estimated 7,600,000 living on the outskirts of cemeteries. Cemeteries that devoured corpses incessantly during the dark days of the coronavirus outbreak,” Sepid adds.

Sepid daily then reminds what Morteza Bakhtiari, head of the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee (another plundering institution), said in August that “our study shows that from 2000 to 2019, the living cost of Iranian households increased 22 times and the rise in inflation was the main cause of poverty growth.”

Iran’s minimum wage policy is a dagger in workers’ backs

“During this period, about 33% of Iran’s population went below the multidimensional poverty line, and while the population below the absolute poverty line had reached 15% from 2013 to 2015, from 2015 to 2020, this ratio has reached more than 30%. Most of the poor population are in the country’s villages. About 15.5 percent of urban residents live below the absolute poverty line, almost a third of Iran’s rural population struggles with absolute poverty,” Sepid wrote further quoting Bakhtiary.

The ongoing Covid-19 and economic crisis have increased the society’s restiveness, prompting state-run media in recent days to warn officials about another popular uprising.

“If the negative consequences from impractical and inefficient decisions continue. In that case, the efficiency and legitimacy of the political system may be challenged,” Aftab-e Yazd daily warned officials on September 15.

Weekly-Signe-up-logo-1