{"id":229117,"date":"2020-11-05T10:48:52","date_gmt":"2020-11-05T10:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=229117"},"modified":"2023-02-01T05:35:13","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T04:35:13","slug":"irans-regime-ramps-up-coronavirus-warnings-to-match-escalating-threat-of-public-unrest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-protests\/irans-regime-ramps-up-coronavirus-warnings-to-match-escalating-threat-of-public-unrest\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran\u2019s Regime Ramps up Coronavirus Warnings to Match Escalating Threat of Public Unrest"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Anti_Riot_forces_Iran2_05112020\"
Iranian regime’s anti-riot forces (file photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Iran is facing a \u201cthird wave\u201d of coronavirus infections, according to the regime\u2019s Health Ministry. The mullahs\u2019 Ministry of Health has acknowledged a series of record-breaking single-day death tolls since the middle of October, even when using the regime\u2019s engineered statistics.<\/p>\n

The daily increases have raised Iran\u2019s official death total to nearly 36,000. The official figure will continue to display only a fraction of the truth. According to the People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK<\/a>), which has been tracking the epidemic via its intelligence resources, the actual death toll<\/a> is now over 142,000. This figure disrupts the notion of a \u201cthird wave\u201d and instead suggests that the first wave of Iran\u2019s infections never really ceased, because the regime never took meaningful action to address it.<\/p>\n

The MEK\u2019s account is based on the hospital and mortuary records, as well as eyewitness testimony and records from Iran\u2019s National Emergency Organization which indicate that domestic outbreaks were underway more than a month before regime authorities officially acknowledged them. But when faced with criticism, the regime\u2019s President Hassan Rouhani blatantly demanded credit for the admission, bogusly stating that the regime \u201cdid not delay one day\u201d in revealing the public health threat.<\/p>\n

In fact, the regime\u2019s sham parliamentary elections apparently provided the regime with incentive to finally own up to its early failures to contain the disease. The regime\u2019s sham parliamentary election met an unprecedented nationwide boycott, even though the regime\u2019s authorities extended voting hours on the day of the election after urging everyone to participate as a religious and patriotic duty. But just days removed from the acknowledgement of a coronavirus outbreak, those same authorities were ultimately forced to blame the low turnout on health concerns, not political disaffection.<\/p>\n

It was vitally important for the regime to promote this narrative, given that the election took place only about a month after student protests<\/a> that condemned Tehran for attempting to cover up an incident in which a commercial airliner was struck by a missile belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC<\/a>). Perhaps even more significantly, that protest in turn took place less than two months after a nationwide anti-regime uprising during which the IRGC opened fire on crowds, killing<\/a> over 1,500 peaceful, pro-democracy protesters.<\/p>\n

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January 11 – Tehran, #Iran<\/a>
Large crowd outside Amir Kabir University
Protesters chanting:
"I will kill he who killed my brother!"
This is a clear warning to the mullahs' regime.#IranProtests<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/WfC6lStKgA<\/a><\/p>\n

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) January 11, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n