Muharram’s first night gatherings were criticized for not abiding by any of the COVID-19 restrictions and how Islamic Propaganda Organization responded to the issues. Today, Khamenei came out with his full support behind Muharram assemblies and implicitly told the hosts to not let videos and photos get out! The Islamic Republic Supreme Leader also went back on his original speech that “Corona is not a big deal,” and said “COVID-19 is of the most urgent and top priority for the country! Whether foreign or domestic, vaccination must be accelerated.” Khamenei has recommended praying to heal COVID-19 and banned importation of US and UK made vaccines since January. He also prevented the country to go on a lockdown for 2-weeks, while Delta is breaking the records every day.
On the other hand, Chairman of Tehran Corona Combating Committee in Tehran confirmed all IranTrue’s reporting in the past 18 months in his press gathering. Dr. Zali admitted the regime lied to the WHO about COVID-19 stats in the beginning and instead of consulting with WHO experts, officials kept asking them to “praise our healthcare system and response to the epidemic!” He mentioned returning Doctors Without Borders experts from the airport instead of asking for their opinion while “we did not know anything about the virus!” Head of Beheshti Medical University also revealed that the Islamic Republic did not care enough to import vaccines because “they thought it was too expensive!” He rebuked the reasoning, “We have spent 720million dollars on Remdesivir,… why not vaccines? In current situation, we bought millions of dollars worth of oil industry equipment 3times their usual price, why not vaccines?”
Zali also confessed the vaccine stockpile is only enough for 5 more days and the vaccination cannot be accelerated. He cited India’s Delta wave which took 3 months and said they immunized their people quickly, but “we are not doing it.” The Chairman named complete and total lock down of the country as the only option to slow down the catastrophe. In his shocking remarks, Dr. Alireza Zali said some healthcare staff have not even been paid their wages for 4 months! IranTrue has published an article on how the theocratic regime has been making money from “homegrown vaccines” at the expense of Iranian lives. The regime has also made billions by outrageous fines and not enforcing restrictions.
Meanwhile, Delta has not stopped and broke the records again. Cemeteries are full and busy across the country, but Mashhad remains one of the hardest hit areas. Mashhad Governor has “invited” taxi vans to come help transferring the dead from hospitals to cemeteries due to shortage of ambulances! And this is one of those cemeteries and the line for burial. It is notable that only 1st degree relatives are allowed for burials.
Despite all these revelations, Saeed Namaki in Mashhad said, “we’re proud not to let the epidemic become a security issue (for the regime)!” He admitted, even if the entire city is filled with beds, Delta cannot be controlled unless COVID-19 patients are treated as outpatient and reduce the load on the need for oxygen and other medications! Mr. Health Minister, in his last days, boldly claimed he had delivered “whatever” he promised, which is a blatant lie. This is the list of his empty promises about vaccines alone. Namaki asserted there is no problem regarding beds in Mashhad, while Dr. Saghafi cried for not having “anything, even gurneys,” and Deputy Health Minister Jan-Babaei reported more than 68,000 COVID-19 hospitalized patients across the country!
New provinces such as Ilam and Zanjan join the ones with ongoing crisis including Tehran, Khorasan Razavi, Hormozgan, Fars, Semnan, Ardabil, Gilan, Mazandaran, Hormozgan,… in not having any more hospital beds to admit COVID-19 patients. 400 physicians and nurses from Kashan Medical University in Isfahan province, in an open letter, warned the government about an “uncontrollable humanitarian and health catastrophe” that is happening which would be recorded in history and “there is no escape from it!” They rebuked the regime’s inaction and unwillingness to contain the fifth wave.
Ministry of Health announced administration of 17,294,797 total shots in Iran since February 9, while only 3,401,487 (4.04% of population) are fully vaccinated with ineffective jabs. Sima Sadat Lari also claimed 42,541 tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, which is a new record since the epidemic began in Iran 18 months ago. According to her undercounted numbers, 536 died of COVID-19 in the same time-frame. However, Deputy Health Minister Harirchi recently admitted the real figures are “definitely much higher!” The graphs vividly illustrate the ongoing crisis in Iran which has been intentionally mismanaged since day one by the Islamic Republic.
R0: 3.06
Total: 4,281,217 (+42,541)
Dead: 95,647 (+536)
Recovered: 3,618,224
Critical: 6,932 (+183)
Active Cases: 567,346 (+15,094)
Total Tests: 26,790,150
Cover: Ali Abdollahi
