Schools Reopen in Iran Amid Critical COVID-19 Pandemic Situation; Government Ignores Public Warnings and Protests

Despite mounting concerns over a resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic in Iran and while several provinces of the country have found themselves in dangerous conditions, the Iranian government, disregarding all public protests and expert warnings about the catastrophic consequences of reopening schools, has returned 15 million students in Iran to classrooms as of Saturday.

In this manner, while no signs of a decline in the severity and rate of coronavirus infection in Iran are observed, millions of Iranian children and adolescents must, in the midst of crisis and while facing extremely high risk of contracting the disease, go to school based on yet another last-minute decision made by the ruling regime in Iran.

The decision to reopen schools, which was sudden and announced only a few days before its implementation, comes as Iran has the worst coronavirus pandemic situation in the Middle East. For this reason, insistence on the presence of students in classrooms has been accompanied by substantial criticism from Iranian social media users.

One user wrote: “Endangering the lives of millions of students, teachers, and their families could turn into a human catastrophe.”

Another user, referring to the fact that Iran’s state television simultaneously announces red and critical status conditions in cities and the news of school reopening, pointed to the contradictory statements and actions of Iranian regime officials.

Another user wrote that they will not allow their daughter to go to school “even if she falls a year behind her classmates.”

Shabnam Rahmati, a journalist, also by raising the question of why children should go to school when Tehran’s condition remains red, sarcastically added that perhaps coronavirus is over and people are unaware.

Another user, referring to the fact that school administrators said they have no responsibility for students contracting coronavirus, wrote that people become victims of mismanagement by officials.

Some users also shared their messages with the hashtag no to school reopening. One user named Poyan, while using this hashtag, considered reopening schools without the necessary infrastructure and preparation as equivalent to sending people’s children to a “slaughterhouse.”

The performance of the Iranian regime in cover-ups, presenting inaccurate statistics, delaying the announcement of the coronavirus pandemic in Iran, and making contradictory decisions without scientific backing, has repeatedly faced domestic and international criticism.

Iranian officials, from the beginning of February of last year when reports of deaths from coronavirus in the city of Qom were published, denied these reports until widespread pandemic occurred in that city on the last day of February, forcing them to make an official announcement.

US officials have also emphasized the Islamic Republic’s cover-up regarding the outbreak of coronavirus in Iran. Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, in March of this year issued a statement titled “Khamenei’s Lies About Wuhan Virus Endanger Lives” in which he addressed the lies and cover-ups by the Iranian regime regarding the coronavirus.

Morgan Ortagus, spokesperson for the US State Department, while sharply criticizing Ali Khamenei’s statements about coronavirus, described his words as harmful, irresponsible, and completely false “conspiracy theories” and said: “If this so-called Supreme Leader were a real leader, he would return the billions of dollars in his untaxed financial fund to the Iranian people to combat the spread of this virus.”

The United States has repeatedly condemned mismanagement, institutionalized financial corruption, and plundering of Iran’s assets by regime affiliates and has identified them as among the primary causes of Iran’s problems and the poor welfare situation of its people. For instance, some time ago Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, tweeted about Islamic Republic officials that instead of helping people, they have become entangled in corruption.

Source: Voice of America