Newspaper That Exposed Official Coronavirus Statistics as “One-Twentieth of Real Numbers” Shut Down

The editor-in-chief of a newspaper announced receiving an order to shut down the publication following revelations about the inaccuracy of official coronavirus statistics in Iran.

Based on official statistics, 189 more patients died from coronavirus in Iran in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of victims to 18,616. According to the spokesman of Iran’s Ministry of Health, with 2,132 new patients, the total number of coronavirus cases in Iran reached 328,844.

The accuracy of statistics announced by the Islamic Republic, like those of China and Russia, is heavily disputed. Based on available evidence and documented contradictions observed in statistics presented by various institutions, it can be said that accurate information is not being provided about the real number of infected and deceased. The World Health Organization and even the Research Center of the Iranian Parliament have announced that the actual number of infections and deaths is several times higher than the official statistics in Iran. This occurs while severe media censorship is being applied in Iran, and even those in charge who question the official statistics face action.

Newspaper Shut Down After Revelations

The newspaper “Jahan Sanaat” had published an interview with Mohammad Reza Mahboubfar, a member of the National Coronavirus Combating Headquarters, in which he discussed the inaccuracy of statistics released by the Ministry of Health. Mahboubfar had stated that the Ministry of Health’s statistics on the number of infections and deaths from the coronavirus were “one-twentieth of the real numbers” and could not be trusted.

Iran’s Press Supervision Board, which is a government institution, issued an order to shut down the economic newspaper Jahan Sanaat on Monday following this interview.

In the first month of this year, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had spoken about the Islamic Republic’s cover-ups, saying that Khamenei’s lies about the Wuhan virus endanger people’s lives.

Likewise, a former U.S. representative for Iran affairs had stated that the Islamic Republic lied to the Iranian people about the spread of the coronavirus.

Source: Voice of America