Over 43,800 dead of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iran-Iran Coronavirus Death Toll per PMOI MEK Iran sources.
On Saturday, May 23, the MEK Iran announced that more than 43,800 people in 320 cities in all 31 provinces in Iran have died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Doctors at Labbafinejad Hospital in Tehran report that more than 220 people have died from COVID-19.
Over 43,800 people have died of the novel #coronavirus in 320 cities checkered across all of #Iran’s 31 provinces, according to reports tallied by the Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK as of Saturday afternoon local time, May 23.https://t.co/dIL3Ji27EY
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 23, 2020
The reported number of deaths by provinces includes:
- Tehran: 7,090
- Khuzestan: 3,270
- East Azerbaijan: 1,545
- Lorestan: 1,315
- Central: 606
- Kerman: 538
- Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad: 287
- Other provinces: ~29,092
New Spread of Coronavirus
Despite top regime officials’ claims that the coronavirus is largely contained, health officials and local regime authorities are warning of rising infections across Iran.
On Friday, the spokesman for the regime’s Ministry of Health said, “The situation in Khuzestan Province is still red,” in an interview with the state-run IRNA news agency,
The head of the health network of Halilan City, Ilam Province said, “Coronavirus spread in this city is increasing, and we must stop the cycle of virus transmission in the environment and among the public,” in an interview with Javan website on Friday.
New Restrictions
The second wave of coronavirus infections has forced local regime authorities in many cities and provinces to reinstate quarantine measures.
“To prevent the spread of the disease we urge bazaars and guilds to close their shops from Friday, May 22, to the end of the Eid al-Fitr holiday,” said the head of Bushehr Province’s University of Medical Sciences in an interview with the Revolutionary Guards IRGC)-affiliated Fars news agency on Friday.
Ali Ehsanpour, the spokesman for Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, reiterated this point, asking people not to hold Eid al-Fitr rituals or visits and to stay in their homes unless absolutely necessary, in comments to the Fars news agency on Friday.
In Sistan and Baluchestan Province, the rising number of infections has forced local regime officials to issue a second round of closures. On Friday, the President of Iranshahr University of Medical Sciences told the Tasnim news agency, “Following the increase in the number of people infected with Coronavirus in Iranshahr and Chabahar, these cities were classified as red. Commercial and service centers in Chabahar Free Zone will be closed from May 22 until further notice.”
On Thursday, Mohammad-Akbar Chakerzehi, the governor of Khash, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, told Fars, “The situation in the city is not normal. Due to the significant increase in the number of people infected with Coronavirus, the Khash market will be closed for one week beginning Friday, May 22, 2020, except for the essential businesses that provide food.”
An increase in infections in Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi Province, led the Information Officer at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences to issue a statement, which was quoted by the Mehr news agency. “Due to the red situation in Mashhad, we recommend that people do not travel to Mashhad on Eid al-Fitr,” he warned.
Price Gouging
On Thursday, the head of Mazandaran Province’s Trade, Industry and Mining delivered a stunning announcement. “According to a recent decree of Mazandaran’s Market Price Headquarters, the price of different types of bread were raised 25% to 30% beginning May 21, 2020.”
A 12-year-old girl committed suicide in Ilam and sat her torn clothes on fire so that no one can see the depth of poverty in her family.https://t.co/DppzdQie7S#Iran #MEK #coronavirus @USAdarFarsi pic.twitter.com/LFfLby7suP
— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) May 10, 2020
The overwhelming majority of Iranians lived below the poverty line before the pandemic, and the coronavirus has driven further devastated families who were living on the brink of starvation. A 30 percent change in the price of bread could well mean the difference between life and death for many Iranian families.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), condemned this policy in a recent tweet. She wrote:
“Increasing the price of gasoline and bread for workers amid the #coronavirus crisis is the other side of the 30 billion dollars the clerical regime has spent in Syria at the expense of the people of #Iran to prop up its blood-thirsty dictator.”