Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, March 12, 2020—As of Thursday afternoon, Tehran local time, over 3,650 people across 160 in all of Iran’s 31 provinces have died of the coronavirus, according to the Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). Based on eyewitness reports hundreds of more people have died in the past 24 hours. Iran’s COVID-19 death toll is rising across the country including in the following provinces:
Khorasan Razavi – 348
Mazandaran – 300
Golestan – 296
Alborz – 230
Markazi – 191
Lorestan – 102
East Azerbaijan – 58
Ardabil – 21
West Azerbaijan – 15
Semnan – 15
Kerman – 12
Hormozgan – 10
North Khorasan – 10
Chahar Mahal & Bakhtiari – 7
UPDATE 8:00 PM CET
The governor in Khaf, a city in Khorasan Razavi Province, northeast Iran, has ordered the local mayor to prepare dozens of 4-meter deep graves for mass burials of coronavirus victims, according to the state-run ILNA news agency.
Dr. Khalu, head of the ICU section in Ali Ashgar Hospital of Shiraz, central Iran, has called for flags to be at half-staff. “Many officials are not aware of the conditions we are in. Please put political issues aside… There is nothing wrong in delivering true stats. Wrong is our people dying of this illness,” he said to the governor of Fars Province.
Entekhab daily published a piece quoting Behrouz Kelidari, deputy dean of Isfahan Medical Sciences University: “Isfahan has the highest rate of coronavirus expansion across the country… Kashan is in a complex situation. With a population of 450,000, this city has the casualty rate of a city with 4.5 million people. As a result, there is a possibility of obstruction in the work of our medical staff. In Isfahan Province, the number of patients in need of ICU care is increasing at the same rate of patients entering hospitals. There are no cities in Isfahan Province immune from the COVID-19.”
In such circumstances the mullahs’ regime ruling Iran is requesting a $5 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund under the pretext of fighting coronavirus.
Iranian opposition President Maryam Rajavi, head of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), emphasized on international support for the Iranian people and without any interference by the mullahs’ regime.
“The clerical regime has applied for $5 billion of aid from the International Monetary Fund under the pretext of fighting coronavirus. I emphasize that all international aid must be directly sent to hospitals and the public, without any interference by this plunderer regime. The mullahs’ plunderer regime is not qualified or capable of containing coronavirus. Whatever money given to this regime will be plundered and nothing would reach the public in Iran,” Madam Rajavi said.
The clerical regime has applied for $5 billion of aid from the International Monetary Fund under the pretext of fighting the #Coronavirus. I emphasize that all int’l aid must be directly sent to hospitals and the public, without any interference by this plunderer regime. #Iran
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) March 12, 2020
12:00 PM CET
In the past few days the state-run Ruydad 24 website compared the coronavirus spread in Iran to other countries. Based on official numbers provided by the Health Ministry the coronavirus death toll in Iran was 25 percent… this is a very concerning and remarks by certain MPs appear to be correct that cemeteries no longer have any place to bury the dead. (Ruydad 24 website – March 9, 2020)
Citizen reports from Iran are portraying a very troubling image of the COVID-19 outbreak, which has so far resulted in 3,300 deaths. On Tuesday, March 11, a report from Tehran read, “They are transferring corpses with helicopters. Everywhere across Iran is shut down, including schools and universities. They are closing down everywhere… I swear coronavirus has spread across all of Iran, but they don’t provide any accurate news reports. Those who can’t make ends meet, how are they supposed to purchase necessary hygiene supplies. Prices of all food items are also on the rise.”
Ruydad 24 website: “Various interviews have been published with prosecutors and police officials in different cities all saying they have arrested individuals on charges of spreading coronavirus rumors… Two nurses in Gilan have been arrested and interrogated for providing information about the COVID-19 crisis prior to the epidemic engulfing the entire country. Reports indicate these two individuals were released yesterday yet they refused to talk about their conditions considering their current circumstances…”
More than 3,300 people across 149 cities in Iran have died of the coronavirus, according to Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK.
The catastrophic expansion of this virus signals the regime's deception, mismanagement & corruption across its apparatus.#Iran#COVID19 https://t.co/G7YgPSAFUF
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 11, 2020
On Sunday, March 9, Mohammad Hossein Ghorbani, a representative of the Health Minister in Gilan, described the province as a “war zone” and said 200 people had lost their lives to coronavirus. At the time this was higher than the regime’s official death toll for the entire country, shedding light on the catastrophic circumstances across Iran.
In various parts of northern Iran cemeteries literally have no more room to bury their corpses. Gholamali Jafarzadeh Imenabadi, a member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) from Rasht in northern Iran, said half of the medical staff in Gilan Province are infected with coronavirus. The country’s status quo and comparing existing facts with Health Ministry stats shows the number of coronavirus deaths and cases reported by the government are far from reality, he continued. The very fact that in the past few days two dozen known figures have died indicates far more drastic conditions for ordinary people. Despite all this, the government is strangely insisting on providing different numbers, Imenabadi added.
