Multitude of mullah misfortunes: Regime stubborn as corona kills Iranians

Eslam Mohamed

In the case of Iran, misfortunes do not come singly, as the country has been struck by chaos at all levels, including conflicting numbers and official data during the corona pandemic, losing control of the security situation, and turning the country into a group of ghost cities in conjunction with the collapse of the health sector after the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) assumed management of the crisis instead of the Ministry of Health.

False victory

Despite this, President Hassan Rouhani announced that the virus has reached its peak in some provinces and that the pandemic has started its downward trajectory, merely reflecting his attempt to record any success for his government. However, he surprised Iranians by saying that the virus could remain in the country for about two full years before his government could control the situation, contrary to what he himself had announced just two weeks prior when he announced victory over the pandemic and that Iran had passed the spreading stage. But in order to avoid embarrassment, government spokesman Ali Rabei said that the president’s statement was misrepresented and falsified, even though it was published on the media website of the presidency and official agencies.

Fatal tourism

The authorities have not yet taken firm measures to prevent the spread of the deadly virus, such as imposing a curfew on affected areas. Even the city of Qom, from where the pandemic spread to Iran’s other thirty provinces, has yet to have strict measures implemented.

Activists circulated videos showing the continued spread of foreign visitors from Asian countries throughout the affected city, despite the authorities’ announcement of isolating the city and restrict movement to prevent the spread of the virus from China.

Keeping tourism open has raised questions and criticism from citizens, who are required by the government to stay at home while foreign flights are still landing in the epicenter of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, parliamentarians have criticized the Ministry of Health’s data and questioned its reliability, as they believe the numbers reflect less than the actual number of deaths and victims.

Mashhad, another city that hosts Shiite pilgrims, also witnessed a sharp increase in infections after a number of extremists rejected the government’s medical measures, believing that visiting the city’s religious shrines is a cause for recovery rather than transmission.

At the same time, chaos has spread in Iranian prisons after a number of prisoners died from the virus. Violent rebellions occurred at Mahabad prison in Iran’s western Kurdistan province and Alund prison in Hamadan province, as well as prisons in Tabriz, Khorramabad and Aligudarz. Dozens of detainees also managed to escape from Saqqez prison in the Kurdistan province.

Sunday evening in Shiraz, Adel Abad prison, the country’s largest prison with more than 10,000 detainees, witnessed clashes between the guards and detainees attempting to escape. Activists confirmed that gunfire was heard from inside the building and that some prisoners succeeding in escaping, despite the authorities’ denial. However, Kazem Mousavi, the chief justice of Fars province, did admit that violent clashes took place, which resulted in the prison’s surveillance cameras being destroyed.