Yesterday, Mohammad Reza Qadir, director of Qom’s University of Medical Sciences, told the regime’s official news agency that 300 patients were hospitalized with acute respiratory problems and suspected Coronavirus infection, 19 of whom were children.
Hossein-Ali Shahriari, a regime’s parliament deputy from Zahedan, told the state TV 5, on Friday, April 10, 2020, “If we remove the quarantines earlier than scheduled, we will experience a higher peak. There are many positive tests in Sistan and Baluchestan, and even in these few days, this is the case, and we are worried about witnessing a higher peak. The number of deaths among our medical staff has been higher than the time of war.”
Despite the growing number of fatalities, today, Khamenei and Rouhani forced a large section of the population to go back to work. To justify this, Rouhani said, “What is important in the new phase of smart social distancing is that the project is carried out by studying the Iranian lifestyle and with a local model and at the same time per the principles approved by the World Health Organization.” This model is nothing but sacrificing the people of Iran to maintain the disgraceful clerical rule. For 40 years, this regime has been claiming that they respect human rights, but the “Islamic” and “Iranian” versions. In reality, the regime’s respect for human rights translates into the massacre of political prisoners and firing on unarmed and defenseless demonstrators.
Today, in an article entitled “Preserving Life, livelihood and Health-Based Living,” Ali Rabiei, Rouhani’s notorious spokesman tried to justify the reasons for sending people back to work. “Preserving life and providing bread to avoid death and poverty is the main approach of the government.” He wrote. In the article, published by the state-run News Agency IRNA, he added, “More than 1.5 million formal and informal workshops have been shut down. Four million unofficial workers in the country are at risk of not getting paid or having their wages reduced or being fired altogether. … In the case of a long-term closure … the number of those unemployed would reach more than 4 million. To compensate their wages with a maximum of 2 million Tomans per month ($133 based on market exchange rate), for three months, we will need 24 trillion tomans ($1.6 billion) worth of credit.”
In another development, today, Shahabaddin Bimeghdar, another regime parliament deputy, told the state-run news agency, ISNA, “If we do not shut down the country like other countries, the health of a large segment of society will be affected, and social and security issues will follow… The implementation of the public lockdown is costly. Still, we could use the resources of The Headquarters To Execute Imam Khomeini’s Order, Astan-e Quds Razavi Foundation, Mostazafan (Abased) Foundation, the National Development Fund and even the monthly salaries of the deputies (to pay for it).” “If we don’t take the lockdown seriously, the economy will suffer even more, ” he added.
Abdolbani Namazi, vis-president of the Association of Former Majlis Deputies was quoted by Arman daily as saying on April 11, “What have officials done in the past 30 years that, despite $3 trillion in oil revenues, the national fund is so empty that the government is unable to support non-governmental employees who have not received any money about three to four months?!”
Yahya Al-Ishaq, former Minister of Commerce and Chairman of the Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce, told Khabar Online yesterday, “According to government officials, we have $4.3 trillion, which is in possession of the government, but it is frozen… The frozen assets must be turned into fluid assets in order to resolve the problems.”
Meanwhile, the nightmare of the uprising is shaking the entire regime. Arman daily wrote, “Economic bankruptcy will bring the country to its knees … such that economic problems may lead to social upheavals … The country may be embroiled in Coronavirus for another year, but its economic consequences will continue to plague the country for years to come.”
Explaining the situation created by Coronavirus, another state-run daily, Mostaqel, warned, “Double-edged impact of sanctions and abusive propaganda is going to prepare the grounds for igniting the fire – of protests due to the state of society and living conditions – beneath the ashes into burning flames.” Jahan-e-Sanaat newspaper also expressed concern about the “fall of the country” and asked how ” can we not suffer from the devastating tsunami of the economic Corona with its horrifying social and political consequences after the deadly nightmare of Coronavirus,?”
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
April 11, 2020