Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, December 18, 2020—Over 187,500 people have died of the novel coronavirus in 470 cities checkered across all of Iran’s 31 provinces, according to reports tallied by the Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) as of Friday afternoon local time, December 18. The official death toll declared by the regime stands at 53,273, less than a third of the actual figure.
The coronavirus death toll in various provinces include: 46,066 in Tehran, 11,025 in Isfahan, 9665 in Khuzestan, 7365 in Qom, 7317 in East Azerbaijan, 7042 in Mazandaran, 5692 in Fars, 4950 in Alborz, 3979 in Kerman, 3918 in Markazi (Central), 3317 in Yazd, 2819 in Semnan, 1940 in Ilam, 1932 in Qazvin, and 1889 in Bushehr. This is in addition to reports obtained from other provinces.
Infographic-PMOI/MEK reports over 187,500 coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths in Iran
Lies and contradictory remarks from senior regime officials on the coronavirus vaccine indicates corruption, theft, disillusionment and incompetence among regime officials. This has delayed any vaccination efforts and led to more people dying across Iran.
Regime President Hassan Rouhani said on December 14 that “vaccines will be procured, and vaccination will begin soon either with imported vaccines or those produced domestically.”
“In the shortest possible time we need to import vaccines for people from all walks of life. Many countries have purchased their necessary volumes of vaccines. Therefore, we need to provide the necessary amount of vaccines through imports,” said Alireza Zali, head of the Tehran Covid-19 Task Force on December 16.
However, head of the Majlis (parliament) Health Commission had alarming remarks in this regard. “For now, there is no report of purchasing the Covid-19 vaccine. To this moment we have been able to provide the financial resources necessary and to transfer this money abroad,” he said on Friday, according to the regime’s Khabar Fouri website.
This lie comes at a time when COVAX, the global initiative linked to the World Health Organization aiming to provide vaccines, issued a statement on December 9 indicating there was no “legal barrier” to Iran procuring vaccines through COVAX as the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office on Foreign Assets Control had issued a license covering coronavirus vaccine procurement, according to Bloomberg.
On December 13, health minister Iraj Harirchi acknowledged that the domestic vaccine is being manufactured by the Khomeini’s Order organization, a corrupt financial institution controlled by supreme leader Ali Khamenei. This explains the dithering in purchasing vaccines from other countries. The corrupt regime of the mullahs is poised to turn the coronavirus vaccine into another means for graft, at the expense of the people’s health and lives.
Anushirvan Mohseni Bandpey, the provincial governor of Tehran, said on Friday, “The coronavirus condition in the province is unstable, and as has been said time and again, due to the close proximity of cities in Tehran province, the orange situation is no different from red. According to the orders of the Covid-19 Task Force, on Saturday and Sunday, shops will be closed after 6 pm and passenger vehicles will be banned from commuting from 8 pm to 4 am.” (Source: ISNA news agency, December 18)
Alireza Zali, the head of the Covid-19 Task Force confirmed the death of 46 health care workers in Tehran and 200 in other province, according to the official IRNA news agency. A considerable number of health care workers have contracted the intense Covid-19, which has severely impacted their health, Zali added.
The head of public relations of Fars Medical Sciences University said on Tuesday that the province has 243 patients in ICU, according to ISNA. “In the past 24 hours, 20 people have died of Covid-19 and the total number of deaths has reached 2,889,” the official added.
The dean of Kashan Medical Sciences University said on Thursday, “Coronavirus continues to claim lives in Kashan. There are currently 141 patients with severe respiratory illness hospitalized in Kashah, and 47 of them are in ICU.” (Source: Mehr News Agency, December 17)
The head of public relations of the Medical Apparatus Organization of Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan province, confirmed an increase in the number of deaths among the medical staff of the province and said, “The situation in Mashhad is very fragile, and ICUs are still crowded.” (Source: ILNA news agency, December 18)
According to a report by the state-run television on December 16, so far, around 4,000 nurses in hospitals covered by Mashhad Medical Sciences University have contracted Covid-19, and in the past nine days, nine health care workers have died from Covid-19.
In Mazandaran province, according to remarks by the deans of Mazandaran and Babol medical sciences universities, “In the past 24 hours, 180 coronavirus patients have been hospitalized, which shows a mild increase in the number of patients in the province,” the IRIB news agency reported. “There are currently 996 hospitalized Covid-19 patients, 205 of whom are in ICU,” the report added.
The deputy dean of Lorestan Medical Sciences University said, “In Lorestan, 4,500 nurses are working, and since the beginning of the outbreak, 1,450 nurses have contracted this disease.” (Source: IRNA, December 18)
Iran coronavirus outbreak death toll interactive map
