(PMOI / MEK Iran): The regime’s main strategy is to increase repression against anyone who is thought to be a potential threat to the regime. This includes intimidating and humiliating youth in the street and stepping up death sentences and executions.

More than 144,100 people have died in Iran after contracting COVID-19. Every single province has been touched by the health crisis and the situation is growing more and more worrying with every day that passes. The National Council of Resistance of Iran’s (NCRI) and the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran) – the main opposition to the Iranian regime – has been monitoring the situation closely since the beginning of the outbreak, concerned that the Iranian government would hide key facts and downplay the situation.

It turns out that the opposition’s concerns were valid considering that the regime is reporting that the death toll stands at just 36,985. Tehran alone has seen at least 34,941 deaths.

The head of the Coronavirus Task Force in Tehran, Alireza Zali, said yesterday that this third peak is even more worrying than the previous two for several reasons. The average hospital stay has increased by several days and there are more and more family clusters that are requiring hospitalization.

Furthermore, he recommends that a lockdown is implemented in Tehran because of the speed of the spread of the virus. He said that the hospital staff is struggling to cope with the numbers, especially in the run-up to the winter period where hospitalizations will naturally increase.

The deputy dean of Tehran Medical Sciences University also spoke about the situation yesterday, saying that non-Coronavirus and non-urgent medical procedures are being postponed in order to have more capacity for COVID-19 patients. The deputy dean also indicated that the number of patients requiring oxygen is increasing and it is becoming a major challenge because it is reaching record levels.

Medical workers are quickly becoming exhausted again. They are working through their second and third peaks and are making great sacrifices to be able to carry out their work to the best of their ability. Their dedication and devotion to helping their fellow citizens are admirable, especially when we consider that medical workers in the country are underpaid and undervalued by the government. In fact, many of them have months of undue wages, benefits, insurances, or bonuses owed to them.

The regime’s handling of the health crisis has been deplorable and it continues to baffle the people and the experts. Many areas of the country are struggling and are begging the government to implement lockdowns to ease the pressure on the hospitals.

The Iranian government is clearly concerned about the economic impact of the health crisis and it seems to believe that any lockdown would be too detrimental to the economy. However, the government is in the process of paralyzing the medical services and the economic impact is going to be worse in the long run as the virus continues to spread to more and more of the population.

Drastic action is needed, and urgently, and scientific and medical experts are urging the government to shut parts of the country down temporarily so that a little amount of control can be regained. But once again, their advice falls on deaf ears.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran’s (NCRI): The mullahs’ inhuman regime is responsible for the new wave of the outbreak and the growing number of victims in Iran. They do not think of anything but further plunder and preservation of their disgraceful rule.

MEK Iran (follow them on Twitter and Facebook)

and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTube