Analysis by PMOI/MEK

Iran, March 6, 2020—As Iran’s coronavirus outbreak continues to become exacerbated by the hour, the latest death toll, according to reports obtained by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), has surpassed the 1,500 mark and has spread to 74 cities and 28 provinces (update: the death toll has risen to 1,800 by Friday night).

The number of victims in Qom, known as Iran’s COVID-19 epicenter, has exceeded 400, and in Gilan, at least 154 have died, according to a statement by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). The catastrophe has reached such proportions that Abdolkarim Hossein-Zadeh, a member of regime’s Majlis (parliament) acknowledged, “The pile of dead bodies in Qom and the helplessness of the people of Rasht are evidence of failures in notifying and alerting the people about the virus outbreak in a timely manner.”

UPDATE 10:30 PM CET:

As of 8 pm Tehran time on Friday, March 6, over 1,800 people have died due to the coronavirus outbreak in Iran, according to the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK). This information is being provided based on reports, messages, and calls from Iranians in different cities and regions across the country. A considerable number of people in the cities of Tehran, Qom, Rasht, Sanandaj, Kamyaran, Agh-Qala, Ali Abad Katol, Gorgan, Khoy, Salmas, Ahvaz, Shahriar, Pakdasht, Shahreza, Isfahan, Mashhad, Quchan, Kashan, Masal, Shanderman, Rudsar, Ramsar, Lahijan, Hamedan, Khoramabad, Hashtgerd, Karaj, Shahroud, Parsian and Lordegan, have lost their lives.

Iranian opposition President Maryam Rajavi, head of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), condemned the mullahs’ regime for its COVID-19 cover-up and the toll on the Iranian people.

“I urge the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary General, the UN Human Rights Council, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to condemn the clerical regime for its continued criminal cover-up of the spread of Coronavirus and jeopardizing the lives of people in Iran and other countries,” Madam Rajavi said.

The mullahs’ criminal cover-up & deferral in the #CoronaOutbreak has imperiled the lives of our people; I urge your national solidarity to prevent further spread of the infection. Vent your anger at the regime; rise up to protect the country & its health, security and future. pic.twitter.com/rRIUUo9Wc2 — Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) March 6, 2020

Despite all their cover-ups, the mullahs’ regime reluctantly acknowledged on Friday that Tehran has the highest number of COVID-19 infections and has become the epicenter of this disease.

Tehran is on the verge of a societal explosion because of the casualties, according to a statement issued by the NCRI. “For all practical purposes, Tehran is gradually moving toward becoming the focal point of the disease’s infections and spread,” the regime’s Health Ministry declared on Friday.

The mullahs’ regime not only bears responsibility for the lives of hundreds of victims in the city of Qom, has also turned Tehran, Iran’s most populous urban center and its 9.7 million population, into a killing field for the coronavirus. This is yet another grotesque crime against humanity that the regime’s leaders and heads of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) must be held accountable for. With a population of 14 million, the number of victims in Tehran Province has surpassed 400 lives.

More than 1,800 people have died of the coronavirus across Iran, according to the Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK.



-Tehran is now an epicenter

-400 dead in Tehran Province with a population of 14 million

-MP calls on Rouhani to quarantine the capital#Iran#COVIDー19 https://t.co/5MBgVBuRu5 — People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 6, 2020

Mohammad Reza Najafi, a member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament), called on regime President Hassan Rouhani to quarantine Tehran. "Not quarantining Qom has unfortunately rendered devastating results... This important matter (quarantine) seems inevitable in Tehran as well due to the expansion of the disease and the upcoming holidays. It is not hard to imagine that negligence will lead to irreparable consequences,” he said.

The medical staff of Imam Hossein Hospital in Tehran say that 15 to 20 people die daily in this hospital due to the Coronavirus. In Rasht, the situation is very catastrophic, and the deceased are buried overnight in collective graves. In Babol, the morgues are full of bodies. Travel to Gilan and Mazandaran provinces has been prohibited.

The IRGC has hoarded medical safety masks and is selling them on the black market at ten times the price or smuggling them to other countries at a high price.

Regime officials are panicking due to the people’s seething anger at their cover-ups and inaction in the face of the virus crisis, and are rambling about a biological attack by the U.S.

UPDATE 6:00 PM CET:

Shahram Koose Gharavi, a member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) made alarming remarks about the coronavirus outbreak in Iran. “The number of COVID-19 cases in Golestan Province (northeast Iran) is growing exponentially,” Koose Gharavi said. The situation in this province is reported as very dire and regime officials are not providing true statistics.

Citizen reports:

March 5 - Mashhad, northeast Iran

“The number of coronavirus cases are increasing extensively. To this day the number of COVID-19 patients in the city’s hospitals are: 94 in Imam Reza Hospital, 49 in Qaem Hospital and 183 in Shariati Hospital… very critical patients are transferred to Shariati Hospital in the middle of the night to prevent any leakage of such reports… the mortality rate of these patients are reported at 70 percent… Authorities are confiscating the mobile phones of all medical staff working in these shifts. Anyone violating these regulations is reported to hospital security.”

“COVID-19 patients in Mashhad have increased dramatically in the past three days. The epicenter was in the Saber district and Pirouzi Avenue where most of the locals are migrants and from Afghanistan. Word is that this community travels to and from China frequently. Ambulances were seen transferring patients from these areas to the intensive care units of Imam Reza Hospital… Two sections of this hospital are filled with patients and the numbers are increasing by the hour… Razavi Hospital officials have issued a letter to Mashhad’s Emergency Department saying no COVID-19 patients will be accepted in their facility… Masks are becoming rare in Mashhad. Even medical staff members in hospitals and various clinics are complaining of mask shortages. Furthermore, due to a shortage in COVID-19 test kits, the medical personnel in the city of Neyshabour (west of Mashhad) have been provided inadequate medical suits.”

March 5 – Tehran

“… nurses of two hospitals said there at least 50 COVID-19 deaths in each hospital. Conditions are very dire and officials are doing nothing to provide adequate supplies. Medical staff members are facing serious shortages and even hospital halls are filled with COVID-19 patients. There are cases where many patients are left and no one is providing any medical care… there are orders to not provide medical care to very critical patients and they should be left to die …”

UPDATE 2:00 PM CET:

In repulsive remarks, Iranian regime Health Minister Saeed Namaki literally blamed the Iranian people for the ongoing coronavirus epidemic. “I am unhappy with the people that they are carelessly breaching our red lines, creating problems for themselves and us,” Namaki said on Thursday, March 5.

It is worth noting that the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Mahan Air flights are continuing to China, according to a report wired by the regime’s ISNA news agency. Precise investigations have shown Mahan Air is the main element behind the coronavirus epidemic in Iran, transferring the COVID-19 virus from China to Iran.

Akbar Dehghan, a member of the regime’s religious circle in the city of Qom–considered Iran’s coronavirus epicenter–died on Thursday, March 5, according to the state-run Rasa news agency.

Hossein Naghavi Hosseini, spokesperson of National Security & Foreign Policy Commission in the regime’s Majlis (parliament), voiced concerns about growing public anger. “People are unhappy that officials are provided adequate supplies and medical equipment, while the general public cannot even find masks, gloves and sanitizing substances to purchase” he said.

Dr. Abraze, deputy dean of the Qom Medical Sciences University, shed light on startling COVID-19 numbers. “As of Friday, March 6, over 1,600 people either infected with COVID-19 or showing suspicious symptoms have been hospitalized. 386 individuals in Qom are confirmed to be coronavirus positive, according to numbers published by the Health Ministry on March 5.”

Citizen reports:

Hospital staff member in Tehran

“Conditions are very dire here. On a daily basis more than 18 youths die here of COVID-19. Older patients are also dying. The cities of Qom, Tehran and Karaj, and parts of Gilan Province are announced as the 'Red Belt.' Other cities are coded as orange.”

March 5 - Kermanshah, western Iran

Physician: “Doctors are saying we can't do anything (for COVID-19 patients) because we have no equipment or supplies. We can only provide oxygen tanks. The rest is with God and the patients’ chances. A four-year old child died yesterday. COVID-19 symptoms in children are stomach aches, nausea and vomiting. Symptoms are lesser seen in children. As a result, they are unwillingly becoming virus hosts.”

March 5 – Tabriz, northwest Iran

In general four or five people die each day, according to a nurse in the city’s Sina Hospital.

March 5 – Mashhad, northeast Iran

“Each day many ambulances are transferring COVID-19 patients to the Qaem Hospital. Once I saw authorities confiscating mobile phones from ordinary people and hospital staff in order to prevent them from reporting news about the coronavirus. The hospital has no equipment or supplies, and half the nurses have left.”

11:00 AM CET:

Mehdi Shadnoush, the representative of the health ministry in Gilan province said, “We are witnessing very dire conditions in Gilan's hospitals. Some families have lost a number of their loved ones. COVID-19 is ruthless.”

Health Minister representative in Gilan Province, northern Iran:



"We are witnessing very dire conditions in Gilan's hospitals. Some families have lost a number of their loved ones. COVID-19 is ruthless."#Iran#coronavirus pic.twitter.com/BDtRM16jSj — People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 6, 2020

Previous reports from Gilan purported that in Rasht alone, hundreds of people had died of coronavirus infection in the Razi hospital. Shadnoush also said, “Some authorities don’t understand the scale of the disaster. We are in a state of war, and as we proceed, the situation becomes worse.”

Hosseinzadeh, the MP, had warned the regime to impose quarantines on Qom and Rasht "before we become the recordholder of [coronavirus] deaths in the world.”

Iranian MP acknowledges high casualty rates in coronavirus outbreak

A report from the Medical University of Shahroud, Semnan province, indicates the number of coronavirus patients is increasing at an accelerating pace.

Regime president Hassan Rouhani, who had previously claimed that things would return to normal by Saturday, February 29, was forced to acknowledge the fact that coronavirus has gone out of control. “This disease has spread widely to almost all of our provinces,” Rouhani said in a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The regime’s officials are also contracting the virus in considerable numbers. Ebrahim Raisi, the head of the regime’s judiciary, declared on Thursday that his judicial deputy Ali Kholfi had died of coronavirus. Hossein Sheikholeslam, the regime’s former ambassador to Syria and an advisor to the foreign minister, also died after contracting the deadly virus.

Other reports indicate that one of the deputies of the governor of Qazvin province has contracted the coronavirus and has been hospitalized. At least two dozens of MPs have contracted the virus. Iraj Harirchi, the deputy health minister, and Masumeh Ebtekar, one of Rouhani's vice presidents, are also among the patients.

While the disastrous scale of the coronavirus outbreak has become undeniable, regime officials are still trying to put a lid on it and prevent information from leaking outside of Iran. The public relations manager of the Medical University of Shushtar, Khuzestan province, was fired after he declared the news of two children contracting COVID-19.

Other reports indicate Iranian authorities have arrested a person who had recorded and posted a video from a morgue in Qom which showed dozens of dead bodies of coronavirus victims.

More than 1,500 people in 74 cities across Iran have died of the coronavirus, according to the Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK.



At least 400 have died in the city of Qom, known as Iran's COVID-19 epicenter.#Iran#coronavirus https://t.co/joJ6QH5vvX pic.twitter.com/E2pL9VgwBg — People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 5, 2020

After weeks of denial and downplaying the COVID-19 outbreak and refraining from taking necessary measures such as quarantining the hotbeds of the deadly virus, regime officials are scrambling to contain the situation.

The regime has canceled sports matches, extended the closure of schools. But the situation has already spun out of control. In shocking remarks, according to state-run news website Eghtesad Online, Dr. Massoud Mardani, a member of Iran's National Influenza Committee said on Thursday, “We're estimating 30 to 40 percent of Tehran's population will be infected with COVID-19 by March 20.” It is worth noting that the Iranian capital Tehran has a population of around 12 million.