COVID-UP

COVID-19 has killed 19,500 people in Iran and infected up to half a million, according to Mojahedin-e Khalq and an Iranian health official, giving the country the third highest SARS-CoV-2 fatality rate in the world. America leads with a devastatingly high 21,668 followed by Italy with 19,899. Spain are also in the grip of the pandemic with 16,972 casualties as are France, 14,393, and the U.K, 10,612. Iran's true toll has been notably lower in the Western media and Worldometer leading to the belief the government have COVID-UP the real number...



The first reported deaths from coronavirus in Persia were on 19 February in the holy metropolis of Qom قم‎. Officials believe the virus stemmed from a single merchant who travelled frequently between the city and China. In just 16 days, the sickness spread to all 31 provinces including 16 countries who claim their source came from Iran. During this time, Iran was only second to China in death rates at 210 which were exposed by BBC Persian through hospital sources within the country. What is also unusual is that Iran reported two deaths first rather than any infections leading to the feeling that the authorities knew about the ailment before...


The reason for the concealment may have something to do with the 11th parliamentary elections. The hardliners have been struggling to win over the majority in the country leading to low voter turnout and electoral fraud. The candidates are picked by the Supreme Leader meaning moderates do not make the ballot. On 21 February an inflated 42% of Iranians cast their vote making it the lowest percentage ever recorded in the 41-year history of the Islamic Republic. The fear of the Basij بسيج and loyalists not lining up at the polls was enough to keep the deadly disease undisclosed...



Another reason for the lack of transparency could be down to retaliation. The regime recently faced its biggest threat due to a 50% increase in fuel prices. The turmoil turned into anti-government protests and the death of over 1500...
On 9 March, Graeme Wood stated that he deems the official count 'certainly an undercount', and provided alternative estimates which he calls 'doomsday figures'. The 17 March toll was also said to be 'a fifth of the real numbers' by a WHO official who recently visited Iran. Dr. Rick Brennan, Regional Emergency Director for the World Health Organization, believed the low number was due to a lack of 'testing' and praised the government's 'great commitment' to the task. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also appeared to be cosying up to Iran two weeks prior when he told CNBC that he had not seen any problems with the Republic's reporting. The former Minister of Health for Ethiopia has come under fire for his handling of the outbreak and siding with China...


A number of Western media outlets have questioned Iran's figures and interviewed those on the front line including BBC Persian who spoke to a doctor in Ostān-e Gīlān: 'I do not know how many people died but the government is trying to cover up the true scale of the crisis. They lied in the early days of the outbreak'. TIME also called a laboratory scientist working at one of five public hospitals in Qom: 'People Are Dying Left and Right.' In an attempt to bring joy, videos from Iran have gone viral showing nurses dancing complete with mask, gloves and gown 😊


In what is probably the biggest indication of a cover-up in Iran, on 12 March The Washington Post exposed disturbing mass graves via satellite images and a Qom قم hospital full of body bags. Six days later, Iran's health ministry spokesman tweeted 'someone dies of #COVID19 every ten minutes' and on 17 March an Iranian state TV journalist and doctor warned that the virus could kill '3.5 million'...



A large number of clerics and government officials have also succumb to the respiratory illness including Hashem Bathaie Golpayenagi, a member of the Assembly of Experts that appoints the Supreme Leader, Mohammad Mirmohammadi, a senior advisor to the man himself, Hadi Khosroshahi, a diplomat who served as Iran's first Ambassador to the Vatican, and Nasser Shabani, a general and senior commander of the IRGC. Others to have recovered include Eshaq Jahangiri, Vice President to Hassan Rouhani, Masoumeh Ebtekar, Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, and Iraj Harirchi, the Deputy Health Minister who stood sweating and wiping his forehead before saying: 'We do not agree with quarantining Qom; the practice of using a quarantine is pre-World War I for the plague and cholera...'


The reason for the mounting number stem from the establishment's cover-up and continuing to allow flights. China and Persia have close trade ties with the CCP throwing the country a lifeline during crushing U.S. sanctions by illegally purchasing their crude oil. Other factors include not Quarantining Qom and keeping the Shrine of Fatima Masumeh open. Ayatollah Mohammad Saeedi believes 'this holy shrine to be a place of healing. That means people should come here to heal from both spiritual and physical diseases.' Doctors and nurses have also reported a shortage of key medical equipment including hospital beds, ventilators and protective gear...




Iran's Foreign Minister has pinned the death toll on U.S. sanctions and penned a letter calling on the American administration to end what he calls #EconomicTerrorism. The letter was shared by a number of Democrats including Ilhan Omar, Linda Sarsour and the NIAC. State Dept. Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus tweeted on 23 March that 'U.S. sanctions do not target imports of food, medicine and medical equipment, or other humanitarian goods. Iranian documents show their health companies have been able to import testing kits without obstacle from U.S. sanctions since January.' The government have also applied for a $5bn IMF loan with Masih Alinejad calling 'handing over cash to the clerics' 'a disastrous solution' and that 'the West should help Iranian people with medicine & medical equipment.' The regime rejected aid including a 50-bed inflatable treatment unit from Doctors Without Borders. In a tweet on 12 March, Ali Khamenei accused the U.S. of a possible '#BiologicalAttack'...



In an effort to combat the spread, the state have temporarily released 85,000 prisoners serving five years or less. Amongst them is British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe who was convicted in 2016 on charges of spying and trying to topple the regime. Iran's notoriously overcrowded jails remain a dangerous breeding ground for the virus with over 200,000 at risk of contracting the infection. 36 have been killed and at least 9 have died from the disease. The authorities have also banned internal travel which has proven difficult during Nowruz نوروز when Iranians traditionally visit family...


COVID-19 has killed 115,096 and infected 1,864,214. People's lives and livelihoods have been put on hold as they self-isolate and social distance. The elderly and vulnerable are at risk and supermarkets were ransacked as people panic-bought in droves. Doctors and nurses have put their lives on the line and the world's economy is taking a tumble. China has come under scrutiny for its wet markets and suspected cover-up. There are now calls for the UK to block its 5G deal with Huawei and for the CCP to put an end to these practices...