Reopening of schools in Iran despite the critical situation of the Corona pandemic; ignoring warnings and public protests
Despite growing concerns about a resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic in Iran, and while several provinces of the country are in a dangerous situation, the Iranian government, ignoring all public protests and expert warnings about the disastrous consequences of reopening schools, returned 15 million students in Iran to classrooms on Saturday.
Thus, in a situation where there is no sign of a decrease in the severity and number of coronavirus infections in Iran, millions of Iranian children and adolescents must go to school in the midst of the crisis and while facing a very high risk of contracting the disease, based on another of the last-minute decisions of the ruling regime in Iran.
The decision to reopen schools, which was announced suddenly and just days before it was to go into effect, comes at a time when Iran is facing the worst coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East. As such, the insistence on students attending classes has drawn widespread criticism from Iranian users on social media.
One user wrote: "Putting the lives of millions of students, teachers, and their families at risk could turn into a humanitarian disaster."
Another user pointed out the contradictory statements and actions of Iranian regime officials, noting that Iranian state television is announcing the reopening of schools at the same time as declaring a red and critical situation in cities.
Another user wrote that he would not let his daughter go to school "even if she was a year behind her classmates."
Journalist Shabnam Rahmati also raised the question of why children should go to school when the situation in Tehran is still red, adding irony that perhaps the coronavirus is over and people are not aware.
Another user, noting that school administrators have said they are not responsible for students contracting the coronavirus, wrote that people are becoming victims of mismanagement by officials.
Some users also posted their messages with the hashtag "No to reopening schools." One user, named Pouyan, used this hashtag and described reopening schools without the necessary infrastructure and preparation as sending people's children to a "killing ground."
The Iranian regime's performance in concealing information, presenting false statistics, delaying the announcement of the coronavirus pandemic in Iran, and making contradictory decisions without scientific support have repeatedly been criticized domestically and internationally .
Iranian authorities denied news of deaths from coronavirus in the city of Qom since the beginning of February last year, until they were forced to make an official announcement on the last day of February due to the widespread epidemic in the city .
US officials have also emphasized the Islamic Republic's cover-up of the coronavirus outbreak in Iran. In a statement in April this year titled "Khamenei's Lies About Wuhan Virus Are Putting Lives at Risk," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a number of statements about the Iranian regime's lies and cover-ups regarding the coronavirus.
Morgan Ortagus, the spokesperson for the US State Department, also strongly criticized Ali Khamenei's statements about the coronavirus, calling his words "fabricated conspiracy theories" harmful, irresponsible, and 100 percent false, and said: "If this so-called Supreme Leader were a real leader, he would return the billions of dollars in his tax-free fund to the Iranian people to combat the spread of this virus."
The United States has repeatedly condemned mismanagement, institutionalized financial corruption, and the plundering of Iranian assets by the regime's affiliates, calling them among the main causes of Iran's problems and the poor welfare of its people. Not long ago, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted about the Islamic Republic's officials that they were involved in corruption instead of helping the people.
Source: Voice of America
