{"id":214695,"date":"2020-03-24T16:58:34","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T16:58:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=214695"},"modified":"2023-01-23T06:43:20","modified_gmt":"2023-01-23T05:43:20","slug":"coronavirus-outbreak-in-iran-regime-expels-msf-while-increasing-suppression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/coronavirus-outbreak-in-iran-regime-expels-msf-while-increasing-suppression\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus Outbreak in Iran: Regime Expels MSF While Increasing Suppression"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Medecins
Medecins Sans Frontieres(MSF)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Iranian regime\u00a0<\/span>on Monday\u00a0<\/span>expelled<\/span>\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span>M\u00e9decin<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0Sans\u00a0<\/span>Frontier<\/span>es<\/span>\u00a0(MSF or Doctors Without Borders) wh<\/span>ich\u00a0<\/span>w<\/span>as\u00a0<\/span>there to help the coronavirus victims.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is while Alireza\u00a0<\/span>Vahhabzadeh<\/span>, an advisor to the regime\u2019s minister of health announced on his Twitter account that, since the\u00a0<\/span>so-called <\/span>national mobilization for confronting the novel coronavirus<\/a> is underway, and \u201cthe Iranian [regime\u2019s] Armed Forces’ medical capabilities are entirely at its\u00a0<\/span>service;<\/span>\u00a0Iran did not need hospitals established by foreigners. [Therefore], the MSF presence in Iran is irrelevant.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

W<\/span>hile the regime has been\u00a0<\/span>complaining of\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>i<\/span>nternational\u00a0<\/span>s<\/span>anctions,\u00a0<\/span>it has declin<\/span>ed foreign aid<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On\u00a0<\/span>March 22, the regime\u2019s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, while blatantly accusing the United States\u00a0<\/span>of instigating\u00a0<\/span>the coronavirus pandemic in Iran\u00a0<\/span>refused any aid\u00a0<\/span>from the U.S.\u00a0<\/span>and said: \u201c<\/span>Firstly, you (The United States) are facing shortages of your own … If you have anything, use it yourself. Secondly, you have allegedly produced the virus. One must be insane to trust that you will bring medicine. Your drugs may even spread the disease further or stabilize the virus. Or, if you send a physician, you may want to closely test the toxic effects of the virus you have created. Because it’s said that given the knowledge about Iranian genes, part of the virus has been specially created for Iran<\/span>.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

In a press release on March 22, the U.S. State Department said:\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>The United States has and continues to offer humanitarian assistance to the Iranian people to help address the coronavirus outbreak. It is unfortunate for the Iranian people that their government has rejected this offer. Our priority has been to stand with the Iranian people \u2013 and this offer is still on the table. U.S. sanctions are not preventing aid from getting to Iran. The United States maintains broad authorizations that allow for the sale of food, agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical devices by U.S persons or from the United States to Iran.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo\u00a0<\/span>in\u00a0<\/span>this regard said on March 17: \u201cI also want to call attention to the Iranian regime\u2019s misinformation campaign surrounding the origination of the Wuhan virus.\u00a0 Instead of focusing on the needs of the Iranian people and accepting genuine offers of support, senior Iranians lied about the Wuhan virus outbreak for weeks.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The coronavirus outbreak in Iran, which according to the reports published by the People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, Mujahedin-e Khalq or MEK)<\/a> has taken<\/span>\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0lives of nearly 11,000 people, is rapidly spreading across the country due to the regime\u2019s inaction and\u00a0<\/span>cover-up.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Iran: #Coronavirus<\/a> Fatalities Exceed 10,500 in 212 Cities
The number of victims in Isfahan province exceeds 1,262, Kashan 500, Khorasan Razavi 872, Zanjan 83, Ardebil 160, Golestan 536, Khuzestan 369, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad 41, and Semnan 40 #COVID\u30fc19<\/a>https:\/\/t.co\/ds5QFmKTW6<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) March 23, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n