As the coronavirus crisis continues to worsen in Iran, the Iranian regime’s infighting has intensified. Both of the regime’s factions are culprits in the criminal cover-up and inaction which has resulted in over 22,000 deaths in Iran, yet as the restive Iranian society promises a new uprising, the regime’s factions try to blame one another for the coronavirus outbreak and the mismanagement.
The truth is that the regime’s officials, who are fully aware of the regime’s inaction and criminal cover-up which has resulted in the increasing death toll, try to frame one another. The regime’s president, Hassan Rouhani, blatantly declared on Sunday: “We have white (virus-free) provinces in the south of the country where there are no problems for schools to open. Bushehr, Hormozgan, Sistan and Baluchestan Provinces … can start their activities.”
Iran: Blatant Lies by Mullahs’ President Hassan Rouhani
Documents revealing that the mullah’s regime was aware of the #coronavirus outbreak in #Iran since Feb 4th #Covid_19 https://t.co/rozaqRCDCj pic.twitter.com/kD6ac3GlzI— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) March 30, 2020
One might think that this is only limited to Rouhani, but the remarks made by the regime’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, in March, accusing the U.S. of being responsible for what he called a possible bioterrorism and the remarks that were made by the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, the regime’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary, confirm that both factions indeed are culprits in this criminal approach. Shamkhani said on Monday: “The false argument of ‘economy versus health’ should not stop us. Physicians and workers are the two main pillars of the strategy to overcome the crisis.”
In addition, the regime’s Parliament blocked the tabling of an urgent high-priority motion for a month-long nationwide lockdown to prevent more deaths. Signed by 80 deputies, the motion opposed Hassan Rouhani’s order to return people to work (by next week). It was blocked for “violating the constitution.”
However, this has not decreased the infighting between two rival factions. Each faction tries to blame the other to somehow not be subjected to the people’s increasing hatred which will result in a popular uprising.
Ahmad Moradi, a parliamentary deputy, told the state-run Mehr News Agency: “When I read the president’s remarks about labeling Hormozgan a clear (virus-free) Province, two hypotheses came to my mind: either he was given wrong information, or he made the remarks intentionally and carelessly. I think the second option is closer to reality … The president’s decision and argument are wrong 100 percent.”
Parvaneh Salahshouri, another member of the regime’s parliament from Rouhani’s faction, was quoted by the Arman state-run daily as saying: “In the parliament, we allocated $200 million to the Quds Force in one day. Undoubtedly, in the current situation, maintaining people’s health is more important than other issues.”
On Monday, April 6, Hamid Souri, a member of regime’s Coronavirus National task force, in an interview with the official news agency, IRNA, said that over half a million people in Iran have contracted the Coronavirus.
Member of #Iran’s Coronavirus Task Force: It Is Estimated That 500,000 People in Iran Have Contracted Coronavirus.
He said: "The current estimate is that about 500,000 people in the country have infected with the coronavirus" #Covid_19 #CoronaVirusUpdate https://t.co/TheHNGEckT— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) April 6, 2020
“The initial estimate was that between 30 and 60 percent of the population would be infected with the disease… The current estimate is that about 500,000 people in the country have been infected with the coronavirus,” Souri said adding: “but this is not an accurate figure because less-known cases and patients with milder symptoms have not been identified yet.”
Alireza Zali, head of Tehran’s National Coronavirus Combat Taskforce (NCCT) told the state-run TV: “We had 28% growth in admissions to the ordinary sections, and 15% growth to the ICU in the last three days, while we have discharged fewer patients in recent days… We are still in an upward trend… Tehran’s population is substantial and diverse…our facilities cannot absorb such a volume.” After a Tehran city council meeting, Zali told the state-run Fars News Agency: “Tehran is still one of the hotspots of the coronavirus outbreak, and there are almost no clear spots in the city because of the volume of intra-city traffic.”
The real threat for the regime, however, and the inevitable outcome of these infightings is a major popular uprising. In this regard, the state-run Iran-e Emrouz daily wrote on Tuesday: “We are going to have a major social upheaval after the Coronavirus is over. The situation is not going to be calm. It is going to be exactly like the period after the 2017 elections (uprisings), and we are going to see repeated and powerful incidents.”