Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, March 17, 2021—The Iranian regime’s policy of concealing the coronavirus outbreak, its subsequent poor management of the crisis, and its decision to ban WHO-approved vaccines has set the stage for a social crisis, state-run media outlets are warning.
In this regard, Jahan-e Sanat wrote on March 16, “Since February 2020, there were evident contradictions in remarks made by government officials. Some were dismissing it as a joke and denied it had entered the country. And this resulted in a very slow response and the fast spread of the virus and an increase in the number of deaths… In the first few months, Iran had the highest casualty rate after Wuhan… The reason was that while the entire world closed their borders with China, the Islamic Republic expanded its transactions and commutes. During this period, a lot of people died of coronavirus and the country’s economy was badly hurt.”
Jahan-e Sanat added, “A year after the spread of the coronavirus… people across the world are in quarantine due to the bad Covid situation, but in Iran, because the government is not supporting the people, the people are forced to go to the streets to make ends meet… Some have chosen this death due to different reasons. Many have suffered psychological problems, and unfortunately, some have committed suicide.”
Jahan-e Sanat further warns about how all of this can turn against the regime: “The government’s inconsistent behavior toward the people can cause unpredictable crises. Today, the people are worried about the future of the society and their lives because the society is on the verge of great crises… If these crises pile up on each other and the government does not hear out the voices of protesters, the people’s patients will wear thin… Security forces can only counter protests to some extent… The country’s current situation is on the cusp of a serious change.”
On the same day, Donya-ye Eghtesad, another state-run newspaper, wrote, “Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, the people’s beliefs were shaped by lack of trust in official information channels. On the one hand, the people believed that the virus had entered the country weeks before the government officially acknowledged it and government officials concealed the fact and delayed declaring it. On the other hand, some groups… believed that the government is seeking other goals by hyping the news about the virus.”
This outlet also acknowledged that public mistrust has expanded to the government’s vaccination policy: “There still hasn’t been any transparent report about the vaccinated population, who are these people, what are the priorities. On the other hand, while many of the government-imported drugs end up being sold in the black market at exorbitant prices, if the same thing happens with the coronavirus vaccine, how can the government gain the people’s trust in future programs?”
Resalat daily warns that when the coronavirus outbreak is compounded with other problems in the country, the result can be disastrous: “Inequality, discrimination, tyranny, financial corruption of people who are close to government officials, and the deep economic divide has broken the bones of many people.”
