Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, March 19, 2020—More than 7,000 people have died to the coronavirus in 199 cities across all of Iran’s 31 provinces, according to reports collected by the Iranian People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) as of Thursday afternoon, March 19. Reports indicate that the number of victims in Qom are far more than 1,000.
500 people have died in Alborz province and another 169 in Markazi (Central) Province. In the past 24 hours at least 30 people have died in Tehran, 43 in Mazandaran, 30 in Khorasan Razavi, 15 in Hamedan, 15 in Kerman and 16 in Gilan provinces.
Over 7,000 people across 199 cities in Iran have died of coronavirus, per Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK.
-Reports indicate more than 1,000 deaths in Qom.
-Senior regime medical official: "Actual numbers are far higher than stats delivered by Health Ministry."#Iran#COVID19 https://t.co/jzgLiGXEBg— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 19, 2020
The regime’s Health Ministry, despite all its deceptive measures, reported on Thursday that 149 people died to COVID-19 during the past 24 hours alone. However, Mohammad Reza Zafar-Qandi, head of the regime’s Medical Council said, “The real number is definitely higher than the stats provided by the Health Ministry. We are still in the incline phase… With the current circumstances this status quo may continue until the end of May and even beyond.”
Ali Rabie, spokesperson of the regime’s cabinet, also acknowledged similar accounts after weeks of denials and lies. “The number of those killed may be higher but we may have not reached such a conclusion from our tests… Some have died and we may have not realized that they were coronavirus victims… There may be some failures in delivering stats, too… At times you see that our announcements have some mishaps,” he said on Thursday, March 19.
Iranian opposition President Maryam Rajavi, head of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), expressed the sympathy and condolences of the Iranian Resistance with the loved ones of those who have lost their lives during Nowruz, the Iranian New Year calendar, period. Madam Rajavi also wished and prayed for a speedy recovery for all those who are ill, emphasizing the mullahs’ dictatorship is resorting to deceptive measures on one hand – leading to the explosive spread of COVID-19 across Iran – and destroying the country’s health infrastructure during the past 40 years, has left millions of Iranians in danger.
All supplies and equipment are allocated to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and the entities linked directly to Iranian regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. This has resulted in a disastrous escalation of the number of people infected and killed from the coronavirus epidemic in Iran.
However, the regime’s President Hassan Rouhani is literally claiming the regime is providing more care for the people in comparison to Paris, London and Berlin. The truth is that the mullahs’ report card in the COVID-19 case is truly a crime against humanity and deserves judicial procedures in international tribunals and the United Nations Security Council.
3:00 PM CET
Kianush Jahanpur, the spokesperson of the Iranian regime’s Health Ministry, issued a warning about commuting and seeing family and friends during Nowruz, the Iranian calendar new year on March 20. “A person dies of the consequences of being infected with coronavirus every ten minutes in Iran,” he said on Thursday, March 19. “Around 50 people in Iran are infected with COVID-19 each hour.”
In further interesting remarks made by senior Iranian regime officials, Ali Rabie, spokesperson of the mullahs’ cabinet, acknowledged that the regime has been lying about the coronavirus death toll in this country. “There may be some failures in providing COVID-19 numbers. However, the people should allow us to make announcements when we are completely certain,” he said. “We had no information about the coronavirus spread in Iran. However, we issued a letter on January 24 to the President regarding a possible COVID-19 spread in Iran and he issued orders in this regard on January 26… Mahan Air flights transferring cargo from China continued after we realized coronavirus had entered Iran.”
It is worth noting that on Wednesday, March 18, Rouhani claimed the regime had no information about the coronavirus until February 19.
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More than 6,400 people across 196 cities 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). This is a tally gathered as of Wednesday afternoon, March 18.
The death toll includes these provinces: 800 in Tehran, 790 in Qom, 763 in Gilan, 620 in Isfahan, 581 in Khorasan, 530 in Mazandaran, 393 in Golestan, 207 in Khuzestan, and 204 in Hamedan.
Over 6,400 people across 196 cities in Iran have died of coronavirus, per Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK.
-Death toll continues to rise in Qom
-Officials warning of possible protests/riots in Tehran, Qom, Isfahan, Mashhad and others#Iran#COVID2019https://t.co/W69WUTiihx— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 18, 2020
Reports from the city of Qom, known as Iran’s initial COVID-19 epicenter, indicate that contrary to the regime’s propaganda, there is an escalating trend in the number of victims. The mortuaries are overloaded, and people openly curse at Iranian regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, blaming him for their plight. Many clerics have fled Qom.
In Qom, Isfahan and other corona-stricken cities, local authorities have fled the city and refused to show up for work for as long as they can, leaving lower rank officials to deal with the deadly crisis. Most communications with the provincial and governorate offices, the municipality, and other state-related offices are left unanswered. This status quo points to growing confusion and chaos within the regime.
All the while, senior regime officials are deeply concerned about unrest and protests in Tehran and cities such as Qom, Isfahan, and Mashhad. They are particularly nervous about areas in city outskirts while expressing privately that "unrest will erupt in areas such as Shahr-e-Rey, Eslamshahr, and Akbar Abad in the future. People are poor and can't even afford to buy alcohol and gloves.”
While the outlook of the coronavirus crisis deteriorates due to the regime’s incompetence and weak infrastructure, regime President Hassan Rouhani, who had previously suggested that the crisis will be over by February 29, ridiculously claimed that, "We have now passed the peak in Qom and Gilan, our two most difficult cities… In Gilan 20% of hospital beds are empty”!
“One should compare Tehran with London, Berlin, and Paris…and see their empty stores. People fight each other over toilet paper, are worried and upset about their food; their hospitals announce that they have no more empty beds, but we have delivered for the people!” he claimed.
Alireza Zali, head of Tehran Anti-Coronavirus Operations, said, "Officials do not have a correct picture of the situation in our hospitals. They would realize the depth of the crisis only if they saw the number of hospitalized patients and those in critical condition…”
Furthermore, a representative of the regime’s Health Ministry acknowledged that 147 people had died in 24 hours from coronavirus.”
