It is common knowledge that the regime ruling in Iran is so utterly dishonest that arguing otherwise is now considered outright nonsense. The mullahs refuse to provide the death toll of protesters killed during the November 2019 protests and has only agreed to hand over the black boxes of a Ukrainian airliner that its forces shot down after delaying for two months.
Now, as the coronavirus evolves into a pandemic across the globe and Iran, we are witnessing Iranian regime officials continuously downplay the numbers of coronavirus deaths. As of Friday, March 13, Health Ministry officials in Iran claimed 514 have died of COVID-19, far below the numbers provided by the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMO/MEK), citizen reports and social media posts.
For the sake of the argument presented here, let’s put those reports aside, listen to the regime’s own officials and realize the mullahs’ contradictions. Mostafa Faghihi, a regime insider involved in state media, tweeted on March 9 protesting to the regime’s Health Minister:
Mr. Namaki! You won’t provide the true coronavirus death toll? All right! I’ll do it for you!
Dear people!
Nearly 2,000 people have been killed across the country (ten times the official stats [at the time]). More than 130 people have died just yesterday [March 8] in Tehran and Gilan!
Mr. Namaki! Don’t further insult the people!
This of course sounded alarm bells across the regime’s spectrum. Faghihi posted another tweet saying, “The numbers I published a few hours ago were not correct; My previous tweet about coronavirus cases was misinterpreted. I was emphasizing on ‘suspicious coronavirus cases’ that can be influenza or other illnesses. As a result, I deleted my last tweet.”
This is a clear indication of authorities pressuring and even threatening Faghihi to take back his previous remarks. Such cases further portray a very troubled regime desperate to first cloak the truth about Iran’s COVID-19 epidemic and prevent this crisis from evolving into domestic protests threatening the regime.
All the while there are continuing signs of appeasement of Tehran’s mullahs.
Bahram Parsaie, a Majlis (parliament) member from the city of Shiraz, tweeted the following on March 8: “Did the WHO rapporteur who said Iran has a strong medical system actually visit the coronavirus epicenters in Qom or northern parts of the country? Providing a report full of lies and cloaking the truth does nothing other than further worsen the crisis and fleeing from their global responsibility?”
Many users on social media also criticized WHO’s reporting by posting a variety of videos and images of horrible conditions inside hospitals showing patients laying in hallways and ill Iranians, young and old, collapsing in the streets.
Majlis member Gholamali Jafarzadeh Imanabadi raised even more concerns on Iran’s COVID-19 outbreak and questioned the regime’s official stats. “I should say very frankly that the numbers of those infected and deaths from the coronavirus is not correct,” he said. “… the cemeteries have no space and bodies are being buried on top of each other. In my opinion each day 30 to 40 people in this province alone are dying from this illness… let me be frank, we cannot maintain the safety of our medical staff. I would not be lying if I said that 50 percent the province’s medical staff are infected.”
Imanabadi also criticized remarks made by Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the regime’s Supreme National Security Council. In his recent visit to Iraq, Shamkhani offered to provide aid to Iran’s western neighbor “to fight coronavirus.”
“Mr. Shamkhani! You are the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran. For the love of God think about Iran and Iranians!” Jafarzadeh Imanabadi said. “The situation in Gilan Province has become a dire emergency due to the coronavirus. We have no beds to hospitalize patients, our medical staff are exhausted, we have no special masks or necessary gowns!”
The Iranian regime is constantly being criticized for downplaying the coronavirus crisis and not being transparent on its COVID-19 death toll. As of Thursday, March 12, the Health Ministry had reported 429 deaths and 10,075 cases. However, Morteza Gharoudi, governor of Kashan in central Iran, said on March 9 that 88 people have died just in the two towns of Kashan and Aran-bidgol.
Considering the contradictory remarks of Health Ministry and other officials regarding the country’s coronavirus death, estimates by Radio Farda based on remarks made by various local officials place Iran’s coronavirus death toll at 927 by March 9.
As of Friday, March 13, Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK, citing its network inside the country, is reporting at least 4,000 people have died of the coronavirus 160 cities across Iran.
It is also interesting that Mohammad Mokhtari, a professional football/soccer player in Iran, was arrested after saying over 100 people die on a daily basis in Gilan Province alone.
And while regime officials are voicing a variety of contradicting statements, Iranian regime Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is using the opportunity and requesting a $5 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund to “fight coronavirus.” Like other regime officials, Zarif will not provide any explanation about the hygiene products, including millions of masks and gloves, being hoarded by the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) in warehouses and/or exported abroad for profits.
What is clear that during this COVID-19 crisis Iran’s regime has no focus on providing medical for the general public. On the contrary, the mullahs are keeping a lid on the actual coronavirus death toll and cases, exporting and hoarding hygiene products desperately needed in hospitals and for ordinary people, and jumping to the occasion to ask for multi-billion dollar loans.
In such circumstances, the international community can stand alongside the Iranian people through specific measures. “The only thing that matters for this regime and its officials is to keep their grip on power. People’s lives, health, and resources have no value for the ruling mullahs,” said Iranian opposition President Maryam Rajavi, head of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
The only thing that matters for this regime and its officials is to keep their grip on power. People’s lives, health, and resources have no value for the ruling mullahs #CoronaOutbreak #Covid_19 #Iran pic.twitter.com/CPA6TYK8ja
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) March 5, 2020
“I urge the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary General, the UN Human Rights Council, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to condemn the clerical regime for its continued criminal cover-up of the spread of coronavirus,” Madam Rajavi added.