Afshar:   high fatalities of Covid-19 in Iran that transmitted virus to 16 countries

Mussa Afshar, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran revealed, that the Iranian regime's disregard for the crisis of the new Coronavirus caused the death of 10,900 people in 219 Iranian cities, stressing that regime is expelling the foreign medical teams to cover up the real numbers and conceal the shortage of medical equipment and medicines that have become limited to the regime officials and cronies.

Afshar also accused in an exclusive interview with Hawar News Agency, Iran of deliberately infecting at least 16 other countries for not closing their borders from the beginning and continuing to operate and receive flights, especially in Syria, Iraq fearing decline  of the influence of the Mullah of the regime, who lose control in these countries.

The text of the dialogue.

*What are the most affected cities in Iran and what level of diagnosed people in the country?

Mujahdi Khalq Organization of Iran announced on Tuesday afternoon (March 24th) that the death toll in 219 cities in Iran has risen to more than 10,900, while the number of deaths in the northern Province of Kelan on the Caspian Sea coast and its center, "Rasht" is at least 1050.

* Are the taken measures by the Iranian government sufficient to deal with this epidemic,  what are the positive and negative actions in this context? 

As countries around the world compensate workers and employees , Hassan Rouhani came out on March 21st and said there was a "conspiracy" against the revolution for closing the companies and economic activity in Iran. We must not let that happen; we must all work within the framework of health protocols," he said before, adding that Iran has no plans to quarantine any city.

Unfortunately, the regime is trying to exploit politically the disaster and put the  blames on other issues, including U.S. sanctions; Khamenei said there is a possibility that the United States has produced the virus for Iran.

As for Mrs. Maryam Rajawi who said, this reflects the regime's deadly crisis and fear of a popular uprising. Khamenei is trying to cover the regime's incompetence and inability to deal with the virus and to divert the anger and hatred of the Iranian people to the United States. In fact, no one but the regime is responsible for the crisis.

*Do you think the Iranian regime has failed to provide the health care needed for its people?

For years, the Iranian regime's priority has been to suppress the Iranian people, support terrorism and aggression in the region, rather than ensuring their well-being and basic needs, such as medical facilities and hospitals. Because of monopoly and mismanagement, hospitals lack basic supplies, equipment and facilities. In response to this disaster, it gives priorities for political considerations rather than professional medical advice.

The Guard Forces control medical facilities exclusively, depriving ordinary patients of the basic needs, such as masks, muzzles and disinfectant liquids, while black market guards sell them at 10 times of the actual price.

 Institutions controlled by the Guard or Khamenei's office also have huge assets and facilities. A small portion of them can pay for confronting the Coronavirus, including the salaries of workers and employees.

*Why didn't Iran prevent its citizens from traveling to the neighboring countries, especially Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, and what is Iran's role in spreading the corona epidemic in the region?

 Despite repeated warnings, the IRG-owned Mahan Air company continued its flights to China until March, that caused Tehran lack  for an appropriate response and failing to quarantine the city of Qum, the epicenter of the Coronavirus infection. that lead to the spread of Coved-19 in at least 16 countries.  

 The indifference of the Mullahs of the regime to the transfer of the virus from Iran to neighboring countries is another aspect of the regime's dealings with the Iranian people themselves, especially in circumstances that are shaking the ground under the feet of the Mullahs in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria. The regime desperately needs to intensify its movements and presence of its agents in these countries because the absence of the regime and its elements will lead to its expulsion from these countries and the end of its influence there.

*How do U.S. sanctions affect Iran in the face of the epidemic?

The Iranian regime is trying to attribute the disastrous situation of the Corona crisis in Iran to the sanctions imposed on it, thereby justifying its serious abdication of its responsibility.  These clumsy attempts to cover up and deceive by the Mullahs to hide the fact that the religious regime has failed to take any effective preventive measures to contain the spread of the virus, including quarantine in cities where the infection was raging.

 While the Guard Forces control the Iranian economy and almost all available medical funds and resources, including masks and clothing which are only allocated to regime officials and military personnel. Even doctors and nurses who are at the forefront of the fight against the disease in hospitals, do not have adequate medical supplies and protective suits.

There are reports that specialized equipment provided by the World Health Organization was sold in the black market by the guards. From the beginning, the Mullahs knew that the virus infected people in the holy city of Qum, a point attractive to Muslims, but it feared that it would affect the turnout in their parliamentary elections and their celebrations on the anniversary of the 1979 revolution so they covered it up. No announcements were made to warn the wider population until it was too late.

Nor has the regime made any preparations to prevent the virus from spreading. The Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei even mocked the disease and said that the virus was produced by Iran's enemies to dissuade people from voting, cynically blaming Americans for what he calls a "biological attack."

Now that the epidemic is spreading and information about it is widespread on social media, regime spokesmen have begun to hint at the extent of the disaster. It is clear that the number of people infected is increasing steadly and that referrals to unequipped hospitals have shown that they are unable to meet the needs of citizens.

There are no beds available in many hospitals across the country, according to sources inside Kashan, a city in Isfahan province. Hospitals are so full that patients with the disease are being transported to Tehran that is more than 150 kilometers away, and hospitals have run out of equipment. The medical staff did not have personal protective kits..

*Corona is a global epidemic and needs joined efforts to stop it. Has Iran taken serious steps with neighboring countries to prevent transmission?

Unfortunately, the Iranian regime does not care about the safety of the Iranian people, therefore is far from caring about the neighboring countries or others.

Around the world, governments are doing their utmost to alleviate people's suffering in the fight against the virus and its dire consequences, while Iran is the only country where the regime and the people have two different sides. Regime's efforts are aimed at hiding the actual numbers and dealing with the political consequences. Any expression of public anger against the way the regime deals with the virus has greatly exacerbated the terrible situation of the people and increased the difficulties they face in these difficult times.

• The disaster in Iran is an urgent issue that has not only been confined to Iran's borders. It has also spread to the countries of the region, so the international community in general and the UN Security Council in particular must force the regime to:

• Publish all facts and figures on the spread of COVID-19 in Iran and submit them to the relevant international organizations, in order to save the lives of the Iranian people and the people of other countries in the region.
• Take immediate action to release all prisoners, particularly the political prisoners, to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.
•  All assistance to Iran will be sent directly and distributed by international agencies, otherwise it will be stolen by the Mullahs of the regime.

Another example for lack of interest, the Mullahs of the regime expelled MSF from Iran, that had gone with 9 specialized doctors and two equipment planes, to Isfahan to set up a field hospital there, but the regime came with the aim of preventing it from seeing the true dimensions of the injured and the deaths and not to reveal the secrecy of the regime and its negligence. "After the implementation of the national mobilization plan against Corona and the full use of the medical capabilities of the armed forces, there is no need yet to use the capabilities of foreign powers," wrote Ali Reza Wahab Zadeh, an advisor to the regime's minister of health.

"The expulsion of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), who certainly went to Isfahan by prior agreement and coordination, shows the Mullahs' determination to continue their criminal secrecy, especially in the number of victims and confirms the fact that the main problem in Iran is the existence of a corrupt dictatorship that is only interested in maintaining its authority." Said Rajawi.

 People's lives are worthless. They only receive the assistance they reach without any supervision to serve the guard forces and regime leaders."

ANHA