The COVID-19 has taken the lives of over 160,200 people throughout Iran, according to the Iranian opposition (PMOI / MEK Iran).

It seems that even Iran’s own state-run media have discovered that the regime’s callous response to managing the Covid-19 epidemic has been more about managing unrest rather than managing a contagious virus.

With a death toll of more than 160,200 across Iran, according to detailed figures obtained by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran), it is not surprising that the media hasn’t been questioning how things got to this disastrous state and why the regime has been trying to downplay the disease. Iran’s death toll is worse than any other neighboring Middle Eastern nation.

Some of the strongly-worded comments and criticism made by the media are given below.

Jahan-e Sanat, a  state-run daily, said: “We would certainly see severe consequences and pay a heavy price with so many people losing their lives. Unfortunately, the bottom line is that the [regime’s] methodology of preventing and spreading the coronavirus has been completely wrong from the beginning. So far, the government has made no effort to control the virus.”

Resalat, another state-run daily, commented on the fact that the regime had refused to do anything about the virus if it meant a hit to the economy. The writer in the Resalat pointed out that a focus on health first would mean a better economy in the long run. “Some experts say the reason for the government’s delay in taking special measures against covid-19 is concerns about the people’s economy. Yet there are two important points: Frist, who believes a government that has ruined the economy within the last seven years became suddenly worried about people’s livelihood? Second, what is the cost of this economy, the death of thousands of Iranians per day? People’s lives should be tied to the government’s paralyzed economy?”

The state-run Vatan-e Emrooz said on Sunday: “Experts’ proposal to close crisis centers for two weeks was not approved yesterday at a meeting of the National Combating Covid-19 Task Force chaired by Hassan Rouhani. So, who is responsible for the rising death toll?”

It’s hard to see anything other than a deliberate policy to let the virus run riot through Iran when its Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, says the virus was a ‘blessing’ and a ‘test.’ The regime’s top officials have been careful to keep themselves carefully isolated while the virus has been circulating, even if the nations’ health workers, those who have been on the front line of keeping Iranians from dying have suffered enormously. Many ordinary Iranians have directly or indirectly suffered terribly throughout the pandemic. The regime, meanwhile, has other things to concern itself with. Apparently, it is more important to build nuclear weapons, fund terrorist groups outside Iran, and complain about sanctions.

As the Hamdeli, a state-run daily wrote: “If the government cuts the budgets of institutions that have no interest in the present and the future of the country, yet have a budget line, or cuts the salaries of tens of millions of government officials, it may be able to alleviate some of its financial problems. The government could also then help people amid the coronavirus crisis.”

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI): If the mullahs ever had the absurd idea to use the Covid-19 pandemic as a method of suppressing the people of Iran, they have made a serious blunder. Iranians are angry about their government’s inept response and its endemic corruption. Another major uprising is inevitably brewing.

The mullahs ruling Iran facilitated the spread of coronavirus and did not make any serious efforts to contain it. This is why the pandemic has turned into a source for hidden escalation of fury and anger.

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