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Iran Coronavirus Outbreak: Thousands Infected, Over 650 Dead, yet No Action by the Regime

Iran, Qom- Kamkar hospital the section of COVID-19 patients
Iran, Qom- Kamkar hospital the section of COVID-19 patients

After days of denial and downplaying the Coronavirus outbreak in Iran, the regime’s Deputy Health Minister Ghasem Janbabaei admitted in an interview on state TV that “over 12,000 people have been hospitalized after being diagnosed with the coronavirus and this is only 20 percent of the individuals who have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. 


“Less than 20 percent of individuals testing positive for the coronavirus actually enter hospitals. Some 80 percent of individuals who are infected with the coronavirus either have slight symptoms or their conditions allow them to remain at home,” Janbabei said. 

Yet, regime continues its campaign of downplaying the casualties of this deadly virus.  

According to the reports obtained by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, Mujahedin-e Khalq or MEK) from inside Iran, the Coronavirus death toll in Iran exceeded 650 as of Sunday night. The MEK’s reports also confirm that over 300 have lost their lives in the city of Qom alone, where the virus was first detected. 

As was previously stated by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), this horrific figure is due to the “regime covering up the spread of Coronavirus in the city during the sham Parliamentary election.”  

In this regard, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the NCRI’s president-elect, extended her most profound condolences to the Iranian people, particularly the residents of Qom. She called on the world community to voice sympathy with the people of Iran and to take urgent action to save the lives and well-being of the people of Qom.

As an example, the regime’s interior minister, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, admitted on February 23 that “Some people recommended that we postpone the election. Regarding Qom, they insisted we postpone the election in the city. As the official responsible for the election, I did not accept any of these (recommendations).”  

The Coronavirus outbreak in Iran rapidly grew because of the regime’s secrecy and covering up the extent and dimensions of the disaster and simultaneously not taking any preventive and necessary medical steps. Instead, the regime’s officials one after another tried to downplay this crisis. In this regard, on February 24, after Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani, the regime’s lawmaker from the city of Qom admitted to over 50 deaths in Qom due to the COVID-19 virus, the regime’s Deputy Health Minister Iraj Haririchi in a press conference on the same day rejected Farahani’s revelations. In a moment of extraordinary irony, Harirchi then began to exhibit signs of coronavirus in that same press conference, before confirming the following day that he tested positive for the virus.  

Reports from inside Iran confirm that the regime had dedicated all the medical facilities to its suppressive forces and officials. This is while shocking videos from Iran show ordinary people falling on the ground after being infected with the Coronavirus. Reports further confirm that the best medical resources have been allocated to Iranian regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, other regime officials and the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). On February 27, the state-run Khabar Fouri website reported coronavirus test kits were transferred to the home of Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar, and all her colleagues and family members were tested. 

The Iranian regime is pursuing the same narrative of shooting down the Ukrainian passenger jet earlier this year. The airliner was downed by the IRGC, yet the regime denied this for three consecutive days. The regime was forced to admit to committing this crime, as it is now forced to declare the number of those infected with the Coronavirus. Regime’s admitting to shooting down the Ukrainian passenger jet triggered the explosive Iranian society, and resulted in mass protests across Iran, with the university students at their forefront. The regime’s secrecy regarding the dimensions and extent of the COVID-19 crisis is due to the regime’s fear of another public outrage or popular protest. The general boycott of the regime’s sham parliamentary elections and regime’s deadly crackdown on the Iran protests in November by killing 1500 people have left no doubt for the regime and the international community that the Iranian people only desire the downfall of this regime and the next uprising will lead to the regime’s ultimate downfall, particularly as the regime grapples with unprecedented international isolation and regional defeats due to the ongoing protests in Iraq and the situation in Syria and Lebanon.

In this regard, NCRI president-elect Mrs. Rajavi said: The mullahs’ regime is besieged by mounting social protests. The Iranian people rejected Khamenei through their resounding NO to the mullahs’ most scandalous election farce. And the inclusion of the regime in FATF’s blacklist has put the mullahs in a financial stranglehold. Iraq, which Khamenei had declared as the regime’s strategic depth has seen the eruption of a major uprising against its Iranian-proxy rulers. The brave women of Iraq are also playing an important role in those protests. 

The regime is neither capable nor willing to resolve the Coronavirus outbreak crisis. It is the international community’s duty to act and help the Iranian people.  The Coronavirus outbreak in Iran is not just a domestic crisis for the Iranian people. The origins of the cases discovered in the United States and other countries in the Middle East are from Iran.   

Mrs. Rajavi has repeatedly called for the immediate dispatch of WHO monitoring and treatment missions to Iran. She praised the dedicated medical staff and urged them to do whatever they can to assist the helpless people. “Medical and healthcare facilities should be removed from the IRGC’s monopoly and provided to the physicians, hospitals, and the public,” Mrs. Rajavi added.

Mrs. Rajavi underscored: “The regime’s resort to a cover-up is a futile effort to counter the people and the rebellious youths and to thwart the eruption of an uprising and popular anger. In such a situation, it is necessary to emphasize the need to express outrage and stage protests and strike to any extent possible.”