Break the silence on Iran’s COVID-19 crisis

OPINION:

I am troubled by the extent of the coronavirus in Iran. The Iranian regime is not providing legitimate figures and states that deaths have not exceeded 11,000 people. However, upon reading the statements provided by officials and doctors in Iran, we realise that the gravity of the situation is tremendous. A member of the national center of the fight against coronavirus in Iran declared that up until now, 18 million Iranians, which is 20 percent of the population, have contracted COVID-19. Another official has stated that every 15 minutes, two people in Iran die as a result of coronavirus, which is 192 people every 24 hours. Thanks to the efforts of the Iranian resistance to provide information, we know that up until now, at least 70,000 people have died in Iran because of coronavirus.

In Iran, the defenseless population is facing this pandemic by itself. The corrupt dictatorship that governs Iran, that gains billions of dollars from Khamenei and the pasdarans, doesn’t spend a single dime for the health of the nation, but instead sends the people back to work, or in other words, to the coronavirus abattoir. It is painful to compare this situation with what other governments are doing to protect their populations. One of the questions that needs to be asked is why is the World Health Organization doing nothing? Why is the international community remaining quiet on this issue? This deafening silence is insulting to the Iranian population, who are victims to the pandemic and victims to this religious dictatorship. Why has the U.N. special report on the right to health not published a single thing about this? This is not acceptable.

Today, at this tribunal, I call to break the silence on the health crisis in Iran. I am calling for the WHO to act, alongside the U.N.