The Iranian regime is still hiding the true number of people killed by the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) during their brutal suppression of the November 2019 uprising against the mullahs.

Iran is suffering from a drastic shortage of medical supplies, like masks and disinfectants, because the regime’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is stockpiling them and selling them to the public at a major mark up.  

An outbreak of coronavirus in Iran is far more serious than the regime is revealing. It has become so serious that according to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) the 2,600 fatalities so far have affected 115 cities spread across 30 provinces.

An international panel of medical experts held an online conference on Sunday, March 8, 2020, to discuss the spread of COVID-19 in Iran. The panelists explained how the regime’s cover-up of the initial outbreak had allowed the virus to spread, enumerated the decisions that have worsened the crisis, and called on the international community to provide direct assistance to the Iranian people.

At least 1800 people have died of the coronavirus in Iran, according to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), and the crisis is only getting worse because of the regime’s inaction.

Soheil Arabi, a political prisoner in the Greater Tehran Penitentiary, has been denied medical treatment and his health is deteriorating. He is in severe pain and he has been asking for medication – to no avail. He also requires surgery because of a physical injury and has an infection that is spreading.

The Greater Tehran Penitentiary is known for its poor sanitation and there are huge numbers of prisoners crammed into very small spaces. The prisoners face many health-related risks on a normal basis, but with the spread of Coronavirus, the risk has become significantly higher.

Coronavirus, or COVID-19, has occurred in a number of the regime’s prisons and is being largely ignored by prison officials https://t.co/btThqlXmY7#iran #freeiran #MEK @USAdarFarsi pic.twitter.com/tSIad4egFU

— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) March 4, 2020

Last year, it was reported that Soheil Arabi had been in serious danger after suffering massive blood loss after having a broken nose. His nose was broken by prison authorities during an interrogation at the IRGC-controlled ward 2A and he was severely beaten.

Soheil Arabi was sentenced to death in 2013, but a few years later it was reduced to several years imprisonment and two years of mandatory study on the topic of Islamic theology. He was charged with insulting religious leaders in postings on social media.

Human rights organizations have called on the Iranian government to vacate the prisoner’s sentence, with many expressing their shock and disgust that the people of Iran risk imprisonment and the death penalty for issues related to the freedom of speech. Arabi is not the first prisoner in Iran that has been handed a death sentence for peacefully exercising his rights with regard to the freedom of expression.

Arabi has said that he was punished after “writing and publishing an article about the conditions of prisoners detained in ward 1 of the Greater Tehran Penitentiary”.

He explained that during an interrogation, a prison official kicked him violently in the testicles and when he regained consciousness he was in the hospital. A doctor explained to him that he had blunt force trauma and that he requires immediate surgery to remove one of his testicles. However, months passed and he was not granted the surgery he needed, meaning that infection took hold and has spread across his body, especially these legs.

Prison authorities in Iran take no responsibility for the health of the prisoners under their care and there are widespread reports that this is happening in prisons across the country, and political prisoners, in particular, are neglected and denied the most basic of health care.

There are major concerns in the country with regard to the spread of the Coronavirus. The prisoners of Iran are at particular risk because of the close confinement that they are subject to, as well as the poor sanitary conditions. The regime’s cover-up of the health crisis is despicable and it is becoming clearer and clearer why the people want regime change.

#Coronavirus Death Toll Rising in #Iranian #Prisons https://t.co/t8rhHqMgWg#MEK

— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) March 3, 2020

Compared to the response by governments across the world, the Iranian regime has let down the people in one of the most serious ways possible. The already vulnerable people have been once again disappointment by the regime’s reaction. 

On Wednesday, Amnesty International published a report describing the brutal deaths of at least 23 children at the hands of Iranian regime security forces during the November Uprisings last year. ‘They Shot Our Children:’ Killings of Minors in Iran’s November 2019 Protests details the illegal and brutal actions taken by the Iranian regime against its citizens during last year’s protests, which included using lethal force on children as young as 8 to 12 years old.

According to the Amnesty report, 22 of the victims were boys ranging in age from 12 to 17, and one was a girl who appeared to be between the ages of 8 and 12. At least 22 of the victims were killed by live ammunition by security forces who illegally opened fire into crowds of unarmed protesters and bystanders during the uprisings.

“In recent months an increasingly gruesome picture has emerged of the extent to which Iranian security forces unlawfully used lethal force to crush last year’s nationwide protests. However, it is still devastating to learn that the number of children who fell victim to this brutality is so shockingly high,” said Philip Luther, Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International in a briefing about the report.

“There must be independent and impartial investigations into these killings, and those suspected of ordering and carrying them out must be prosecuted in fair trials,” he emphasized.

Amnesty gathered evidence for its report from a number of sources, including videos, photos, death certificates, eyewitnesses accounts, family interviews, and information from local human rights activists and journalists. The report found that ten children died from bullet wounds to the head or chest, which backs up earlier claims from MEK sources that security forces used kill shots when firing on crowds.

Two children died from massive trauma, according to their death certificates. One of the children suffered a “crushed brain and a shattered skull.” The other died from “extensive internal bleeding, and a pierced heart and lung.”

In another case, some reports say that the child was beaten to death by security forces, sustaining massive head trauma in the process. Conflicting reports say that the child was fatally shot multiple times in the face at close range by metal pellets.

Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK Iran/PMOI) said yesterday that there have been at least 1500 killed in #IranProtests in #Iran which began on 15 November 2019. #MEK Iran also released the names of 504 slain protesters.https://t.co/m9jsCDZTWC@USAdarFarsi #StopIranBloodshed pic.twitter.com/GwEFjWgYB6

— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) December 16, 2019

The children’s deaths occurred between November 16-18, leading Luther to remark: “The fact that the vast majority of the children’s deaths took place over just two days is further evidence that Iranian security forces went on a killing spree to quash dissent at any cost.”

The report also describes the regime’s attempts to cover up the violent deaths by refusing to hand over the children’s phones to their parents, handing over bodies over victims wrapped in shrouds minutes before their funerals, demanding that families bury their loved ones quickly and quietly, and threatening to kill parents’ surviving children if they spoke out.

“As if the loss of their loved ones was not cruel enough an experience to bear, families of children killed during the protests are facing a ruthless campaign of harassment to intimidate them from speaking out,” said Luther.

According to the MEK, 1,500 people were killed by regime security forces during the November Uprisings and another 12,000 were arrested. MEK sources have reported that many of those arrested during the protests have been tortured.

Many believe that this uprising is a turning point in Iran’s political &ocial spectrum. Based on the information of Iran’s main opposition group,#MEK,at least 1500 #IranProtesters have been slaughtered in cold blood in the 1st few days of #Iranprotests. pic.twitter.com/3NZTOqNhz7

— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) December 30, 2019

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK) has reported that the death toll from the COVID-19 virus outbreak in Iran is rising rapidly. As at the end of February, MEK reports that there have been over 650 deaths from the disease in Iran, a figure that is far higher than has been officially reported by the Iranian regime, which appears to be operating a policy of disinformation about the seriousness of the disease.

The United Nations received a joint statement, during its 44th Human Rights Council session in Geneva, urging it to take action on the Iranian regime’s historical and ongoing human rights violations by sending a fact-finding mission to Iran.

Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur, published a report on the matter of human rights abuses in Iran. He was shocked beyond belief when he discovered the seriousness of injuries inflicted on those detained as a result of last November’s street protests. They were not only mistreated in custody but some were killed, others have had to live with serious injuries and a minor is involved too. Worse still the report said that detainees were often denied medical treatment for injuries caused by interrogation methods used by the security forces. It even appears that some people have disappeared completely.