Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, April 3, 2020—More than 16,800 people have died of coronavirus in 238 cities across all of Iran’s 31 provinces, according to Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) tallying reports as of Friday afternoon local time, March 3. The death toll declared by the regime is 3,294, less than a fifth of the real figure.
The number of victims in various provinces include: 1,720 in Qom, 1,585 in Isfahan, 1,510 in Gilan, 1,300 in Khorasan Razavi, 810 in Golestan, 720 in Khuzestan, 473 in Lorestan, 435 in Kermanshah, 405 in Hamedan, 375 in West Azerbaijan, 285 in Fars, 285 in Kurdistan, 275 in Qazvin, 200 in Kerman, 265 in Markazi (Central), 215 in East Azerbaijan, 60 in Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari, and 40 in South Khorasan.
Over 16,800 dead of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iran
Ali Akbar Haghdoust, head of the COVID-19 Control Task Force Epidemiology Committee, raised doubts about the regime’s numbers of coronavirus deaths. “These numbers are not the real number of deaths. Some may have died without being tested. Other reasons have been registered in their files. We accept the fact that we have not been able to register all the deaths. We can’t swear on the numbers provided,” he said.
Iranian regime Health Minister Saeed Namaki also voiced such concerns. In a letter to regime President Hassan Rouhani he said, “Recently, with the Task Force being informed, a letter has been issued by the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade to all provinces that practically orders all people to return to work. This is against the Task Force’s role, responsibility and stature… any such trigger-happy decision… will soon engulf the country’s health and economy.”
Alireza Zali, head of Tehran’s COVID-19 Control Task Force, says the country has yet to reach stability in regard to the virus’ spread in Tehran. There should be no hasty decisions that downplay the social distancing plan, he added, emphasizing people should continue to remain at home and officials should adopt the necessary strategy and decisions.
The regime’s senior officials are continuously voicing contradictory positions. Iranian regime Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, the mullahs’ diplomat terrorists, apologists and lobbyists abroad constantly blame sanctions and lack of money as the reason behind the coronavirus spread in Iran.
All the while, Rouhani said on Thursday, “We will not be having problems in the next few months. We will not have a problem in providing currency until the end of the [Persian calendar] year (March 2021) … Today, there is around 4 million tons of goods in our customs, including basic goods, which will enter the country in the coming days.”
According to the state-run Borna news agency, a member of the Bazar, Currency, and Capital Committee in Tehran’s Chamber of Commerce suggested to “impose taxes on institutions such as the Astan-e Quds, the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order, and Bonyad-e Mostazafan” as the best solution to compensate for the losses of the government and cover the losses caused by coronavirus. It’s worth reminding that all of these institutions are overseen by regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei and account for billions of dollars in profit every year.
According to reports received from Zahedan, a prisoner has died of coronavirus infection in Zahedan Central Prison. The inmate was identified as Maysam Barandaz, 40, and he was in the cell 35 of ward 8 of the prison when he contracted COVID-19. Iran’s prisoners lack the minimum hygiene safeguards and coronavirus is spreading among inmates. The poor health and sanitary conditions have caused riots in several prisons in the country.
The regime has responded with brute force and has killed several prisoners instead of releasing them and providing them with care. In Sepidar prison, Ahvaz, at least seven inmates were murdered by security forces.
Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), condemned the regime’s brutal response to the just demands of prisoners and called on the international community to intervene.
I urge the UN High Commissioner for #HumanRights and the UN Special Rapporteur for the human rights situation in #Iran to compel the regime to announce the whereabouts and conditions of the detainees and wounded prisoners who have disappeared #COVID19
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) April 2, 2020
In other news, the workers of the Urmia Cement Company held a protest rally because of the poor sanitary conditions at the facility. The protesters say all workers and drivers have been gathered in one location without being provided with minimal hygiene products to protect themselves against coronavirus.
There are also reports of protests and concerns among the workers of the chromite mine at Rudan, Hormozgan province, due to the threat of contracting coronavirus. The facility lacks basic sanitary supplies such as face masks and disinfectant gels.
