Statement by Group of Activists: Mismanagement of Coronavirus Has Caused Deaths of Tens of Thousands of Iranians
A group of political, social, civil, and human rights activists have issued a statement protesting the management of coronavirus and vaccination in Iran, calling for immediate universal vaccination and prevention of Muharram gatherings.
According to the news website “Kalame,” which is known to be close to Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the group of activists called in their statement for a “fair and independent” court to investigate accusations against officials whose “incompetence” and mismanagement of the crisis has caused the death of “at least tens of thousands of Iranians,” according to them.
In another section of the statement, referring to a group of lawyers and civil activists who have been arrested in recent days while attempting to lodge complaints against some Islamic Republic officials following the spread of the coronavirus, it stated that despite the growing voice of protest against the government’s self-interest and incompetence, there is concern that “legitimate voices may be silenced under security pressures and confined to imprisonment.”
These activists described the Islamic Republic as “an authoritarian system that has sacrificed people’s health for political games.”
The statement also referred to matters such as the Supreme Leader’s opposition to vaccine imports, concealment of the actual existence of the virus and real death toll statistics, and “false promises for domestic vaccine production.”
According to these activists, these matters “demonstrate the great catastrophe of corruption and mismanagement, waste of resources and deadly deception of the people” in present-day Iran.
Dozens of activists have signed this statement, including: Abolfazl Ghadian, Parvaneh Salehshouri, Hassan Asadi Zaidabadi, Seyyed Mostafa Tajzadeh, Abdolfatah Soltani, Fakhrosoldat Mohtashami Pour, Mohammad Ali Amoui, Masoud Bastani, Vida Rabani, and Rasoul Badaghi.
Source: Voice of America
