The mullahs’ parliament refrained today from adopting the urgent plan for a month-long national shutdown, another indication of Khamenei, Rouhani and other officials’ complicity in the criminal plan to send people back to work, i.e. to their deaths

The rift between those in the Iranian regime who want to reopen the country right away and those advocating a month-long lockdown to minimize future coronavirus deaths was put on sharp display this week in the regime’s Majlis (parliament).

The friction began when regime President Hassan Rouhani ordered the Iranian people to return to work by next week. Majlis members reacted swiftly with an urgent motion for a nationwide month-long lockdown, but those in favor of Rouhani’s order attempted to table the motion. A group of 80 deputies successfully blocked the motion from being tabled on constitutional grounds.

This is a small victory for proponents of a lockdown, but it is unlikely that Rouhani’s order will be reversed. Already, businesses are reopening and streets are crowded across the country.

A Half Million Cases

On April 7, the MEK Iran reported that 20,400 people in 245 cities in Iran have died from coronavirus. Hamid Souri, a member of the regime’s National Coronavirus Combat Taskforce (NCCT), recently said that at least a half-million Iranians are infected with coronavirus but have not been tested.

In an April 6th interview with the state-run IRNA, Souri said, “The current estimate is that about 500,000 people in the country have been infected with the coronavirus, but this is not an accurate figure because less-known and milder patients have not been identified yet.”

Souri added that the trend is still rising

“and we have not yet reached the peak or flattened the curve in any provinces.” He said that 400,000 people could die in the worst-case scenario and warned that the country is ill-prepared for the second wave of infections.

In an interview with state-run television, Alireza Zali, head of the NCCT, described the worsening state of the coronavirus epidemic in Iran.

“We had 28% growth in admissions to the ordinary sections, and 15% growth to the ICU in the last three days, while we have discharged fewer patients in recent days… We are still in an upward trend… Tehran’s population is substantial and diverse…our facilities cannot absorb such a volume,” he emphasized.

“No Room for Concern”

Regime Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli minimized the threat in an address to Majlis, saying:

“There is no room for concern, given the measures taken to control the Coronavirus. There is sufficient expertise; particularly, the curve outbreak is declining across the country.”

Fazli was contradicted by regime Health Minister Saeed Namaki in his remarks to Majlis. Namaki emphasized that

“nothing is worse for the country’s economy than the continuation of the corona outbreak.” He also made it clear that he does not think it is wise to open up the country again. “We are now in the management phase of the outbreak and have not yet “controlled and contained the virus. We should not have any illusions or miscalculate things,” he added.

Maryam Rajavi’s Statement

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), tweeted about Majlis’ failure to lock down the country on Tuesday. She wrote:

“The mullahs’ parliament refrained today from adopting the urgent plan for a month-long national shutdown, another indication of Khamenei, Rouhani and other officials’ complicity in the criminal plan to send people back to work, i.e. to their deaths.”

She added: “This is a crime against humanity, particularly that virtually all of the regime’s experts emphasize that the pandemic has not been controlled, and is spreading further in many regions. So, returning to normal conditions will lead to countless more victims.”