Iranian regime’s deception threatens the region and the world

The Iranian regime has been caught red-handed being deceptive and attempting to cover up its lies.

In the first week of February, the Iranian authorities claimed that the country was not experiencing a crisis with respect to the coronavirus, and that no one in Iran had contracted the disease. Then, the regime’s deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi, who is ironically in charge of a task force that is battling the virus, appeared on state-owned TV looking ill and feverish, wearing no mask, and constantly wiping his forehead. Many viewers were alarmed that he might have some serious health issues. He and other ministry spokesmen claimed that the issue was under control in Iran. But, the next day, Harirchi tested positive for the virus. So far, two Iranian officials have tested positive, as well as a member of the Iranian parliament, Mahmoud Sadeghi.

Soon, the world came to realize that the Islamic Republic had the highest number of deaths resulting from the coronavirus outside of China. Iranian officials were eventually forced into providing information about the outbreak. So far, at least 54 Iranian citizens have died out of a reported total of 978 positive cases. But it is important to point out that these are the official figures and the actual numbers are most likely much higher.

Some Iranian authorities have even admitted they are not allowed to report the actual number of people who have been infected or died. The head of the Medical Sciences University in Qom, Mohammad Reza Ghadir, said on state television that the Health Ministry had issued a ban on disclosing statistics on the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Not only is the Iranian regime not giving the public or the international community a full and accurate picture of the coronavirus outbreak, it is also not taking the necessary steps and precautions to prevent the crisis from spreading. For instance, the regime is not providing services across Iran to test people for the virus. Ghadir confirmed that “most of the tests have to be done in Tehran, and Tehran announces it.”

The regime could have disclosed the outbreak at the beginning of February, but it decided to hide it.

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh

The regime is also not conducting full examinations on patients. After one person died in Kamkar Hospital in Qom last week, a hospital employee said: “Precise statistics cannot be said because we had suspected fatalities from about 10 days ago and, until two days ago, all were buried without careful examination and there is a high probability that they were infected with the coronavirus.” Hospital staff members are frightened and some are failing to show up at work.

The situation has become so perilous in some cities that members of the Iranian parliament have finally come forward and criticized the government for failing to address the issue adequately. Ahmad Amirabadi revealed important information when he spoke with the state-run Iranian Labour News Agency, which quoted him as saying: “Qom is not doing well in terms of the spread of the coronavirus, and I think the government’s performance in controlling the virus has failed. Nurses currently lack proper quarantine clothing and are caring for patients with fear and anxiety. There are many problems for nurses and there are few facilities, and Qom also lacks laboratory kits.” He added: “It is true that we must keep calm, but we should not observe the scale of the crisis as if nothing had happened.”

Surprisingly, Amirabadi went on, admitting that about 10 people are dying on a daily basis due to the coronavirus. “Until last night, about 50 people died because of the coronavirus infection. And the Ministry of Health is responsible for this subject. Unfortunately, the coronavirus outbreak has been in Qom for three weeks and this has been announced late,” he said.

The regime could have disclosed the outbreak at the beginning of February, but it decided to hide it, most likely for two key reasons. First of all, the parliamentary elections were coming up in late February and the regime was probably concerned that, if it released information about the outbreak, people might not go out and vote. This would bring the voter turnout down and result in questions being raised over the legitimacy of the theocratic establishment around the world. Secondly, the regime likely wanted to continue doing business with other countries, and the disclosure of the outbreak would have prevented that.

Iran’s lies about the coronavirus outbreak are not only threatening the Iranian population, but also people in the wider Middle East and around the world.

• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is an Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and president of the International American Council. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh