Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, March 9, 2020—The coronavirus epidemic in Iran continues to spread with reports of over 2,300 deaths in 115 cities of 30 provinces, according to the Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). The increase in the number of people infected with COVID-19 in Golestan Province, northern Iran, has filled all hospitals and there are no empty beds.
“The coronavirus is more the result of Iran’s airspace neglecting warnings of this virus entering Iran,” according to the state-run Jahan-e Sanat daily. It appears the lack of capabilities, not having an adequate agenda to confront the COVID-19 nightmare and ending its lethal effects are the main reasons behind this epidemic, the piece adds.
Over 2,300 people in 115 cities across Iran have lost their lives to the coronavirus epidemic as the illness spreads across the country, according to the Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK.#Iran#COVID19 https://t.co/OKoM7I59G8
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 8, 2020
UPDATE 10:30 PM CET
Iran’s coronavirus death toll has exceeded 2,600 in 127 cities across 30 provinces, according to the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
The number of victims in Qom is 500, Tehran 420, Gorgan 204, Kashan 142, Isfahan 121, Mashhad 205, Qazvin 98, Kermanshah 105, Gilan province 450, and Alborz 95.
More than 2,600 people across 127 cities of 30 provinces in Iran have died of the coronavirus, according to Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK.
MP: Climax is in the next two weeks
Regime insider: More than 2,000 have died
Official stats: 237 dead#Iran#COVID2019 pic.twitter.com/ESzZuJ2rUW— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 9, 2020
“The disease will reach its peak in the next two weeks and the number of those hospitalized will increase by 10-15 percent on a daily basis,” said Homayoun Yousefi, a regime’s parliament deputy and member of the “National Committee for Coronavirus.”
The situation has aggravated the political infighting among the regime’s ruling factions. Ali Nowbakht, chairman of the Parliament’s Health Commission, implicitly referred to the Revolutionary Guards’ (IRGC) destructive role. “Non-medical matters are undermining the Health Minister’s plans to prevent and control the Coronavirus. I consider the virus more than just a medical issue. As an economic, political, social, cultural, security and judicial issue …it has not been taken seriously,” he said.
In these circumstances, conditions in Iran’s hospitals are deteriorating due to a lack of facilities. Dozens of dedicated physicians and nurses have contracted the virus while treating their patients, and unfortunately lost their lives.
Iranian opposition President Maryam Rajavi, head of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), hailed Iran’s committed physicians and nurses while extending her condolences to their families and the Iranian medical community. These dedicated men and women are the source of honor and pride for a nation that has refused to surrender to the mullahs' inhuman regime in the past 40 years and has insisted on its national pride and human values while challenging the religious dictatorship ruling Iran, Madam Rajavi added.
Condolences to the people and grieving families of #Gilan.
I urge Gilan’s courageous youth to rush to the aid of those who have contracted the virus while taking all the necessary safety measures for themselves #CoronaOutbreak #Iran #Coronavirus https://t.co/YqnFkHrmMD pic.twitter.com/nBdNjfegry— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) March 9, 2020
UPDATE 4:00 PM CET
Gilan Province [northern Iran] should be quarantined before we see a coffin outside every house, said the representative of the Iranian regime’s Health Minister in this province. Gilan has become one of Iran’s main coronavirus hotspots.
“On the coronavirus outbreak my concern is that people will take matters into their own hands if we don’t act in time to prevent visitors from entering Hormozgan Province [southern Iran],” said Hossein Hashemi Takhtinezhad, a member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament).
Coronavirus is taking the lives of many regime officials, too. Farzad Tazari, former deputy of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Political Department and a former IRGC intelligence official, died on Monday morning due to COVID-19.
Mohammad Reza Rahchamani, founding member of Iran’s Solidarity Party, former Majlis member and former head of the regime’s State Welfare Organization, died of COVID-19 on Monday.
More regime officials and insiders are making remarks indicating contradictions in the regime’s official stats. “The number of deaths suspect of coronavirus is close to 2,000 across the country. More than 130 of them died just yesterday in Tehran and Gilan,” said Mostafa Faghihi, close to the regime’s inner circle.
The Health Ministry in Iran is warning Iranians to remain at home and only leave for urgent matters. It is worth noting that just weeks ago regime officials were saying there is no need for quarantine measures and “quarantining is for the Middle Ages.”
“The situation in Karaj is code red. Don’t go to the cemeteries at the end of the Iranian calendar year,” said head of the City Council Karaj, west of Tehran. It is a ritual in Iranian culture to pay respect for loved ones who have died on the last Thursday of the Iranian calendar year.
“Conditions have only deteriorated since the day you promised conditions would return to normal,” said Ardeshir Mottahari, a new member of the regime’s Majlis, to regime President Hassan Rouhani.
Reports indicate four Majlis members have written a letter requesting budgets allocated from the “Executive Imam Khomeini Order” and other institutions to be used to provide masks, medical uniforms, goggles and other necessities for the country’s medical staff.
Majlis member Gholam Ali Jafarzadeh Imen Abadi 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 in order to confront coronavirus.
“Mr. Shamkhani! You are the Secretary of the Supreme Council of Iran. For the love of God think about Iran and Iranians,” Jafarzadeh Imenabadi said.
The state-run ISNA news agency reported that head of Iran’s Crisis Management Organization is also infected with COVID-19.
Citizen report from Noshahr, northern Iran:
“A number of people have died of coronavirus in our neighborhood. I can’t make ends meet and I’m so tired of not being able to find masks. It is very expensive now. What is my family supposed to do?… Authorities refused to block the road leading to [Mazandaran Province north of Tehran]. People had no choice but to take matters into their own hands and block the road…”
11:00 AM CET
“Why is the status quo reported as completely normal?” asked another state daily Akhbar-e Sanat. “If conditions are truly normal and all good, then hold Majlis (parliament) sessions as scheduled. And the government cabinet should be holding its meetings in its headquarters and not the presidential palace. Isn’t everything normal?!”
A former member of Tehran’s City Council says, “Concealing the truth about the entrance of coronavirus into the country and providing transparent information from day one has left people very suspicious of official numbers.”
In the 24 hours prior to 8 pm Tehran time on Sunday, March 8, more than 300 people in Tehran, Zahedan, Gonbad, Qom, Abadan, Saveh, Varamin, Qarchak, Shahr-e-ray, Kashan, Isfahan, Rasht, Hashtpar, Rezvanshahr, Astaneh, Mashhad, Kashmar, Birjand, Sari, Ghaemshahr, and Babol lost their lives.
The continuation of cover-up, lies, and contradictions by the mullahs' regime have exacerbated the catastrophe. In a confidential report to the office of Iranian regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Mohammad Hossein Ghorbani, the Health Minister representative in Gilan Province, wrote that by Sunday, the death toll in Gilan had reached 408, including six doctors. At a press conference on Sunday afternoon, Ghorbani put the province death toll at 200, while an hour earlier the deputy health minister put the nationwide figure at 194.
"#Coronavirus death toll in Gilan Province [northern Iran] has reached 200… 800 to 900 are infected," says Mohammad Hossein Ghorbani, the Health Minister's Plenipotentiary Representative in Gilan Province.
Official death toll: 194
Remarks prove #Iran's regime is lying. pic.twitter.com/ZRQrAXTceM
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 8, 2020
"Why was the Coronavirus outbreak in Qom overshadowed by the Majlis (parliament) elections? Why was Qom not quarantined to prevent the spread of Coronavirus across the country?" questioned Alireza Rahimi, a member of the Majlis board, according to the official ISNA news agency on March 7.
Ali Najafi Khoshroodi, a parliament deputy from Mazandaran Province in northern Iran said, "The coronavirus outbreak in Mazandaran Province, especially in the city of Babol, has reached a critical point … The three major hospitals in Babol lack the capacity to accommodate new patients, and a shortage of basic facilities for preventive measures as well as lack of equipment and some medicines have aggravated the problems."
Hygienic and sanitary supplies are very scarce in Golestan Province. All hospitals are full to capacity. The Province's International Exhibition Center is now being used as a field hospital to receive more patients. The Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and paramilitary Basij units are patrolling alleys and streets ostensibly under the guise of the Coronavirus Combating Campaign to thwart any protests by an increasingly enraged public.
Dire conditions are reported in Tehran’s Evin Prison and could lead to yet another humanitarian catastrophe. A significant number of political prisoners are suffering from Coronavirus symptoms, such as severe coughing and high fever. However, no measures have been taken to treat or quarantine these infected inmates. Prison authorities refuse entering the cells for daily head counts in fear of being infected and count the prisoners outside the cells. There is an absolute shortage of hygienic and disinfectants, and Coronavirus test kits are non-existent. Inmates are told to purchase the necessary hygienic supplies from outside the prison.
