Iranian Physics Society calls news of IRGC's virus detector invention "just like fiction"
The wave of reactions to the commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps' claim to have created "an amazing scientific phenomenon" that can "identify any virus within five seconds" continues.
In one of the most recent reactions, the Iranian Physics Society described the claim in a statement on Thursday, April 19, as "unbelievable and on the level of science fiction."
According to the statement, "This claim is so far from science that the Iranian Physics Society categorizes it as a pseudo-scientific claim" because "human science currently does not have the ability to remotely identify and detect particles with dimensions of about 100 nanometers."
The news of the invention of the "intelligent instant coronavirus detection system called Mosta'an 110" was announced on Wednesday by Hossein Salami, commander of the Revolutionary Guards, in a television interview.
Reactions to this news began immediately, and the spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Health said on the same day that this device lacked "approval" or "license" from the ministry.
Hesameddin Ashena, media advisor to the Iranian president, also wrote in a tweet to the Iranian Broadcasting Corporation, without naming the IRGC or the new apparatus: "In a situation where society is faced with strange news every day, refrain from broadcasting advertising reports in the news sections."
Social media users also reacted widely to this news, including discussing similar cases, the background of the person claiming the invention, the people involved in this matter, and the possible motivations for making such a claim.
These reactions also extended outside of Iran, including Len Khodorkovsky, advisor to the US Secretary of State, who humorously announced the "new and very intelligent" device that had been "approved by Dr. Salami" and published an image that is usually remembered from that time as a reference to strange and useless inventions.
The US State Department's Persian Twitter account also wrote that the Revolutionary Guards may also build "a genie-detecting device."
However, Ramadan Sharif, a spokesman for the Revolutionary Guards, called the produced device "a product of Iranian creativity and courage" and told Tasnim News Agency that the reactions to this system were "due to their feelings of weakness, humiliation, and frustration with Iranian authority and will to solve problems."
He also promised that "the production process and technical specifications and capabilities" of this device "will soon be explained in the presence of media members and experts."
A number of pro-Islamic Republic users have supported this apparatus and attributed the criticism to "counter-revolutionaries" and "foreign media." However, a number of them have also assessed that the commander of the Revolutionary Guards has been deceived by "infiltrators."
Senior officials of the Islamic Republic, including the Supreme Leader as well as commanders of military and paramilitary forces, have considered the coronavirus outbreak to be a possible biological war, accused the United States of "manufacturing the coronavirus" and called part of the coronavirus "produced specifically for Iranians."
The World Health Organization has rejected similar claims and said that in addition to combating the spread of the coronavirus, countries around the world must also combat the spread of misinformation.
Source: Radio Farda
