Pezeshkian, Parliament Member: Real Daily Death Toll from Coronavirus Exceeds 1,500 People

Masoud Pezeshkian, member of Iran’s parliament health commission, stated: “The real daily death toll from coronavirus infection in the country exceeds 1,500 people”.

Criticizing the health ministry’s approach in announcing coronavirus casualty figures in Iran, he said: “It’s as if people aren’t dying”. The number of coronavirus victims in Iran, according to the health ministry’s report, has been announced as approximately 115,000 people, but other sources, including officials from Iran’s medical association, have repeatedly stated that the actual death toll in Iran is 3 to 4 times higher than the health ministry’s figures.

Pezeshkian also, referring to the vaccination process in Iran, stated that the Iranian government “moved slowly in importing vaccines due to political issues”.

While vaccine imports have accelerated in recent days, this parliament member said that vaccine orders were placed during the previous government and the Raisi administration “has not ordered any vaccines”.

In recent days, extensive debates have taken place about who is primarily responsible for the delay in vaccine imports, and supporters of Ibrahim Raisi view the acceleration of vaccine imports as evidence of Hassan Rouhani’s government being at fault, saying that the Rouhani government cited political excuses for not importing vaccines.

Critics of the Raisi government, however, say that matters such as the supreme leader’s ban on importing British and American vaccines, the promises made by the executive headquarters of the imam’s decree to produce 50 million vaccine doses by September of this year, and sanctions have played a role.

Source: Radio Farda