Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, October 2, 2020—The coronavirus outbreak in Iran has become a national disaster and the country is facing a growing number of deaths rising by the hour. Until today, Iranian regime President Hassan Rouhani attempted to cover up the reality and portray the situation as normal. Now that he is no longer able to do this, he is constantly seen blaming the people for the outbreak.
On Thursday, October 1, Rouhani despicably blamed the people for over-consumption of food and medicines. “Medicines are bought in high volumes and remain stored at home. Misuse of food and medicines is harmful. According to reports I have received, in recent days 40% of food products have been wasted,” Rouhani said.
Hereby he tries to cover up regime’s direct impact on high prices, lack of medicine, and vital products due to poverty.
Terrible on-the-ground conditions
Authorities of Isfahan and Qazvin provinces have imposed a new lockdown as of Thursday, October 1.
The Isfahan Covid-19 Task Force has announced that the extremely critical coronavirus condition is the reason for this closure.
Also, the Qazvin Covid-19 Task Force issued a statement announcing lockdown measures in the province. It seems that other provinces will follow. The deputy governor of Ardabil said the situation in that province is also critical.
“All the schools in red and orange areas will be closed by next week,” said the governor of Ilam province.
In most provinces, the number of positive Covid-19 cases, those hospitalized and deaths have all risen. On Thursday, the Health Ministry spokesperson announced the official death toll as 211 in the previous 24-hour period, which is a record in the past two months.
In the meantime, the situation in Tehran is more critical than other places. “Yesterday we experienced the worst Covid-19 day in Tehran. The highest daily death toll since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic was on Tuesday,” said Alireza Zali, head of the Tehran Covid-19 Task Force on Wednesday.
However due to political reasons, the regime does not want to impose a lockdown on Tehran.
“If conditions continue as we speak, we will not be able to control the coronavirus crisis,” said Zahra Sheikhi, spokesperson for the Majlis (parliament) Health Commission on Tuesday. “Tehran, our index in the fight against Covid-19, is the worst hit area. Decisions are usually vetoed by various ministries and officials. This has resulted in an increasing spread of the virus and further pressure on our medical professionals,” she added, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.
The main solution to confront Covid-19
In recent months, the Iranian opposition the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) has repeatedly called to quarantine the cities and has revealed the true numbers of deaths and new cases on a daily basis. However, on many occasions, Rouhani has refused to quarantine the country by calling it the “enemy’s will.”
But now, under pressure of the disastrous status quo in some cities, regime officials are forced into imposing lockdown measures and even the Health Ministry spokeswomen mentioned “discussions of a one-week lockdown for Tehran.”
Accepting to impose lockdown measures in various provinces is on the one hand an acknowledgement of the failure of the regime’s policy of reopening public places. On the other hand, it also indicates escalating public outrage.
However, what Rouhani and regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will continue to follow is their policy of using the coronavirus outbreak as a tool to maintain their rule through high casualties.
The only solution for the coronavirus, as proven until now, is to implement quarantine and lockdown measures. This is not possible without the government providing for the people’s necessities.
When the coronavirus casualties had reached the 2000 mark, the Iranian Resistance had announced that health facilities must be taken out of the hands of the regime and made available to the people. On April 14, Iranian opposition President Maryam Rajavi, head of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), emphasized that: “The Iranian people’s wealth, stolen by the IRGC, foundations controlled by Khamenei and the Astan-e Quds Razavi endowment, must all be wrested out of the mullahs’ control and put in the service of health, treatment, and needs of the people of Iran, especially the deprived and the hungry.”
The Iranian people’s wealth, stolen by the IRGC, foundations controlled by Khamenei &the Astan-e Quds Razavi endowment, must be wrested out of the mullahs’ control &put in the service of health & needs of the people of #Iran, especially the deprived https://t.co/ukIWZmkD5x
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) April 14, 2020
