Exclusive: Iran Imprisoning Coronavirus Whistleblowers, State Department Says
Regime leaders lying about coronavirus statistics, according to Foggy Bottom
Tehran is lying to the international community about the number of citizens infected and killed by coronavirus and imprisoning dissenters for speaking out, the U.S. State Department tells the Washington Free Beacon.
"The regime has imprisoned dozens of Iranians for sharing statistics and forced hospital officials across Iran to falsify the number of cases and deaths," said State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus.
The Iranian regime claims the numbers of those infected and dead stand at 24,811 and 1,934, respectively. But the United States and other observers say there are far more casualties. In a bid to keep the actual infection rate and death toll secret, Iranian officials have resorted to violence and subterfuge. Their efforts include enlisting U.S. allies in a campaign to weaken the Trump administration's tough economic sanctions on the country, a move that could provide the regime with billions in cash.
"We can be sure that the same regime that lied about shooting down a passenger jet and that still hasn't revealed the number of protesters killed last November is not being transparent with the number of cases and deaths from coronavirus today," Ortagus said, referring to Iran's downing of a commercial airliner last year that killed everyone on board.
Iran, through its state-controlled press organs, claims 8,913 citizens have recovered from the coronavirus as of Tuesday evening. Several senior Iranian leaders have already died from the illness, while others have been forced to admit they are infected. The National Council of Resistance of Iran, an exiled opposition group that seeks to depose the hardline government, alleges that nearly 6,000 Iranians have died from coronavirus as of last week. The group said its data were collected by dissidents operating inside the country.
As Iranian officials mislead the international media about the scope of the situation in their country, they also have seized on the virus as an opportunity to push for full-scale sanctions relief.
The European Union is already poised to send Iran more than 20 million euros in relief funds. Tehran also has petitioned the International Monetary Fund to provide at least $5 billion in emergency funds—a lifeline that sources say European allies will support.
This money has emerged as a flashpoint within the Trump administration and among its allies on Capitol Hill. Critics in the administration are concerned the cash will not be used for medical purposes, but to fund Tehran's terrorist proxies across the Middle East. The Iranian regime already stands accused of stealing more than $1 billion in humanitarian aid.
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