Iran Physics Society Calls News of Revolutionary Guard’s Virus Detection Device ‘Science Fiction’

Reactions continue to pour in over the Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander’s claim of creating “a remarkable scientific phenomenon” capable of “identifying any virus in five seconds.”

In one of the latest responses, the Iran Physics Society on Thursday, April 18, described the claim as “unbelievable and akin to science fiction stories” in a statement.

According to the statement, “this claim is so far removed from science that the Iran Physics Society categorizes it among pseudoscientific claims” because “current human knowledge does not have the capability to remotely identify and detect particles with dimensions around 100 nanometers.”

Hossein Salami, commander of the Revolutionary Guard, announced the invention of “an intelligent instant coronavirus diagnosis system under the code name 110” on Wednesday during a television interview.

Reactions to the news began immediately, with Iran’s Health Ministry spokesman saying on the same day that the device lacks “approval” or “authorization” from the ministry.

Hashem Aldin Ashna, media advisor to Iran’s president, also wrote on Twitter, without naming the Revolutionary Guard or the new device, addressing state media: “As society faces strange news every day, refrain from broadcasting advertisements as reports in your news sections.”

Social media users also showed widespread reactions to the news, discussing similar cases, the background of the person claiming the invention, those involved in the matter, and possible motivations for making such a claim.

These reactions extended beyond Iran, with Len Khodorkovsky, advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State, sarcastically announcing the device as “new and very scholarly” that “has been endorsed by Dr. Salami,” and posting an image commonly used when referring to strange and useless inventions.

The U.S. State Department’s Farsi Twitter account also suggested that perhaps the Revolutionary Guard would make “a demon detector device.”

Nevertheless, Ramezan Sharif, spokesman for the Revolutionary Guard, described the produced device as “a product of Iranian creativity and courage” and told the Tasnim News Agency that reactions to this system were “caused by feelings of weakness, insignificance, and despair over Iranian power and will to solve problems.”

He also promised that “soon the production process and technical specifications and capabilities” of the device “will be explained in the presence of media representatives and specialists.”

Some supporters of the Islamic Republic have backed the device and attributed criticisms to “counter-revolution” and “foreign media,” though some of them have also assessed that the Revolutionary Guard commander was deceived by “infiltrating elements.”

Senior Islamic Republic officials, including the Supreme Leader and military and paramilitary commanders, have described the coronavirus spread as part of a potential biological war, accused the U.S. of “creating the coronavirus,” and called part of the outbreak “specifically produced for Iranians.”

The World Health Organization, rejecting similar claims, has stated that in addition to combating the coronavirus spread, countries worldwide must also combat the spread of misinformation.

Source: Radio Farda