Analysis by PMOI/MEK
Iran, March 5, 2020—Sources associated to the Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) have reported more than 1,300 coronavirus deaths across the country (update: the death toll has risen to 1,500 by Thursday night, according to MEK sources). The situation has become so dire that the mullahs’ regime has been prompted to finally declare state of emergency in numerous provinces, according to a statement issued by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
Even the regime’s iconic Friday prayer congregations, and other events and gatherings, along with schools, universities, conferences, and meetings have been cancelled until further notice.
The COVID-19 virus is reported in dozens of cities, including Tehran, Mashhad, Kashan, Anzali, Qom, Rasht, Arak, Ahvaz, Isfahan, and Aran and Bidgol. Additionally, s more people have died in Semnan, Razan (Hamedan), Shahr—e Kord, Marivan, Bijar, Agh-Qala, and Bukan.
March 4 – Tehran, #Iran
Driver collapses out of his truck and falls to the ground with coronavirus symptoms.Over 1,300 people have died of COVID-19 and the regime's official stats are nothing but lies.#Covid_19 pic.twitter.com/smvvZN80ql
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 4, 2020
UPDATE 10:30 PM CET:
At least 200 more people are dead from the coronavirus in Iran over the past 24 hours, according to the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). These reports are from 74 cities across the country, including Tehran, Qom, Rasht, Mashhad, Kashan, Ramsar, Sorkhe-Hesar, Yazd, Zanjan, Gorgan, Gonbad, Urmia, Tabriz, Maragheh, Damavand, Dorcheh, Rudsar, and Qazvin.
More than 1,500 people in 74 cities across Iran have died of the coronavirus, according to the Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK.
At least 400 have died in the city of Qom, known as Iran's COVID-19 epicenter.#Iran#coronavirus https://t.co/joJ6QH5vvX pic.twitter.com/E2pL9VgwBg
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 5, 2020
The number of victims in Qom, known as Iran’s COVID-19 epicenter, has exceeded 400, and in Gilan, at least 154 have died, according to an NCRI statement. The catastrophe has reached such proportions that Abdolkarim Hossein-Zadeh, a member of regime’s Majlis (parliament) acknowledged, “The pile of dead bodies in Qom and the helplessness of the people of Rasht are evidence of failures in notifying and alerting the people about the virus outbreak in a timely manner.”
70 people have died in recent days across Golestan province of northern Iran, according to various reports. In the city of Kermanshah, western Iran, a cemetery manager says 85 coronavirus victims have been buried in this facility alone. The Ferdows Cemetery of Kermanshah is also currently being controlled by the regime’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and paramilitary Basij units, and the bodies are buried overnight.
As a result, the number of coronavirus fatalities in across at least 28 provinces has passed 1,500 mark. These reports are a tally up to 8 pm local time Thursday, March 5. The regime’s Health Minister acknowledged on Thursday that COVID-19 has engulfed the entire country.
The IRGC, IRGC’s intelligence division, and the Ministry of Intelligence have been tasked to silence coronavirus victims’ families in order to cover up the actual number of fatalities. The IRGC’s command center has ordered all divisions and headquarters in Iran’s provinces to station personnel at hospitals and medical centers. In many cities, the death certificates of coronavirus victims are registered with reasons such as heart failure for the cause of death, and families are pressured not to disclose the actual cause of death.
The regime has reluctantly closed schools and universities until the end of the Iranian calendar year (due March 20), which will be followed by the New Year holidays.
Meanwhile, the IRGC’s Mahan Air flights to various cities in China continues, and one plane landed in Shanghai on Thursday, March 5, at 10 am local time.
In the absence of minimum medical care, over 30 percent of those contracting coronaviruses in Qom will die. Hospitals in the city of Rasht, northern Iran, are overloaded of COVID-19 patients and morgues are full of dead bodies. People have to queue from 4 am outside drug stores and most pharmacies usually do not have the sought medicine and supplies.
UPDATE 2:00 PM CET:
In shocking remarks, according to the regime’s own outlets, Dr. Massoud Mardani, a member of Iran's National Influenza Committee said, “We're estimating 30 to 40 percent of Tehran's population will be infected with COVID-19 by March 20.” It is worth noting that the Iranian capital Tehran has a population of around 12 million. Mardani's remarks were reported by state-run news website Eghtesad Online.
Analysis of flight data shows Iran’s Mahan Air (sanctioned by the U.S.) is continuing its flights to China, according to the state-run ISNA news agency. A Mahan Air flight landed in Shanghai at 9:55 am local time on Thursday, March 5.
In further reports of the Iranian people’s difficulties, the state-run ILNA is reporting that most of the COVID-19 victims in Iran lost their lives due to the fact they could not afford treatment for curable illnesses.
Qom is the epicenter of Iran’s coronavirus outbreak and workers in this city are complaining of severe shortages in basic hygiene products for preventive measures in the face of COVID-19.
Unfortunately, in east Gilan Province, northern Iran, Gholamreza Vothoghi-kia has died of the coronavirus. He was a nurse in various hospitals in the city of Rasht a member of surgical teams. Prior to this another Iranian nurse by the name of Ms. Narjes Khanalizadeh had died of the coronavirus. She was the first medical staff member to have been registered dead in Iran.
The Coronavirus Combat Department in Iran has cancelled all sporting events and closed all sports facilities.
11:00 AM CET
While Iranian regime President Hassan Rouhani previously claimed life will return to normal by the end of February, he was forced to acknowledge the fact that coronavirus has gone out of control. “This disease has spread widely to almost all of our provinces,” he said. Furious over the revelation of actual casualty figures, Rouhani continued by saying, “They give false numbers, and they claim that we do not tell the truth to the people… From day one, once we suspected the virus has entered the country, we immediately instructed the Health Ministry to inform the public about the figures and the relevant information. We told them not to hide anything from the public”.
While in every other country, at least 3-4 weeks before any fatality was reported the people had been warned about the Coronavirus outbreak, under the mullahs’ rule, the news of the virus was made public only when the first two victims had lost their lives in Qom.
The criminal cover-up and disseminating lies and misinformation not only added to the rapid spread of the virus in Iran but has resulted in the transmission of the virus to many other countries.
In recent remarks, Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh, a member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament), said in at tweet on Wednesday, “Dead bodies are piling up on Qom,” referring to the outbreak emanating from this Iranian city and spreading across the country.
Iranian MP acknowledges high casualty rates in coronavirus outbreak
Iran’s state outlets are reporting member of the regime's "Council of Religious Education Centers" in Tehran Province died of COVID-19. These reports also include Mohammad Haj Abolghasemi, an official of the regime's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Basij branch in Tehran, according to the regime’s Fars news agency.
Farhad Zamani, a professor at the Iran University of Medical Sciences, sheds disturbing light on COVID-19 testing in Iran. “The coronavirus testing that we conduct are not very precise and are only 70 percent accurate. Meaning if someone is truly infected with COVID-19, the test can be 30 percent wrong and we would not detect the virus,” he explained.
The regime’s state TV in East Azerbaijan Province of northwest Iran further expressed the regime’s anger over revelations regarding true COVID-19 stats. “The MEK cyber army is causing concerns in our society. We are focusing on decreasing concerns created in this regard,” the aired report said, further indicating the focus of Tehran’s worries about the activities of Iranian opposition PMOI.
