Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, May 02, 2020—It’s been three weeks since Iran’s regime has canceled quarantines in provinces and two weeks in Tehran. And already, the signs show that this ill-fated decision has set Iran on the course of another coronavirus disaster.
On Friday, the Iranian regime’s state-run television broadcasted a report which portrays the critical crisis: “In Khuzestan province, the number of positive cases has risen highly … Dezful and Shoushtar have very high numbers. We are now taking the lead from everyone… Danger is waiting! Statistics are high! The Razi hospital is now full.”
The dean of the University of Medical Sciences of Ahwaz said: “We have noticed 186 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours in Khuzestan and an upward trend in the number of people infected with coronavirus has been seen in recent days.”
The spokesperson of Jondishapur University of Medical Sciences of Ahwaz predicted: “The disease will spread considerably in upcoming days if the current situation persists.”
This situation is not in Khuzestan alone. Other provinces are seeing similar conditions. According to Kianush Jahanpour, the spokesperson of the Health Ministry, five to seven provinces are witnessing rising coronavirus statistics, and provinces such as Tehran, Fars, Khorasan Razavi, East and West Azarbaijan and some other provinces have reported an increase in coronavirus cases in recent days. It should be noted that these remarks are made by the spokesperson of the Health Ministry, who earlier tried to cover-up the coronavirus statistics.
The meaning of continued closures of Friday prayers
This week, the regime wanted to resume the Friday prayers in all 116 cities that have been designated as white areas. But it was postponed to next week.
The fact that the regime has canceled Friday prayers indicates that the number of infected provinces is more than seven regions Jahanpour claims. Surprisingly, as the situation worsens, the regime publishes fewer and fewer statistics than in the past. The regime reported 71 COVID-19 deaths on Thursday and 63 on Friday. However, the statistics were not announced separately by province, because in this case, the regime’s falsification and lies would appear quickly. As the Fars news agency, run by the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), quoted the spokesperson of Coronavirus Task Force in Kermanshah, the number of COVID-19 deaths in this province was 77 in one day.
The regime’s lies and secrecy are so obvious that among its own ranks, nobody believes the official statistics. In this regard, Reza Zafarghandi, head of the regime’s “Medical Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” voiced grave concerns. “Most certainly the numbers being announced are different from what is taking place in reality… Many people are asymptomatic and are not tested. Around 40 percent of the negative tests are void and unreliable,” he said on Thursday, April 30, according to the state-run Mehr news agency, affiliated to the regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).
Acknowledging of deterioration of the situation at the highest levels of the administration
Admitting to the deteriorating situation, the rise of the virus and the horrific number of patients and deaths has transitioned from mid-level officials and to the highest levels of authority in the regime. The Health Minister Saeed Namaki compared the coronavirus response budgets of other countries to Iran. He stressed that the regime has allocated a very small amount to this task, and he revealed that one billion euros that Khamenei had agreed to provide to coronavirus response efforts have not yet reached the Ministry of Health.
What is the reason for this acknowledgment?
First, the scale of the catastrophe is so great that the regime is no longer able to hide it.
Second, fear of social reactions following the onset of the disease and the revelation of the horrific number of casualties.
Third, these confessions show the intense pressure on the regime by the people, and it is one of the signs of a rift in the regime.
However, Khamenei and Rouhani try with a politics of lies and blackmailing to cover-up the truths. But these lies could trigger public outrage and nationwide uprising.
