IRGC commander threatens critics after meeting on coronavirus outbreak

The commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards, without naming a specific individual or group, said, "People who betray their homeland and who are traitors who smile at the West and whose voices echo the voices of the West and America, should know that they have no place in our country."

According to Mehr News Agency, Hossein Salami, Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Guards, who spoke on Monday, August 16, at a meeting following the orders of the Leader of the Islamic Republic to combat the coronavirus, declared Ayatollah Khamenei, Islam, and the people as "the three fundamental factors in the country's overcoming the problems of the last four decades."

Iran has one of the highest mortality rates in the world relative to its population after Ayatollah Khamenei banned the import of effective vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna. The decision by the Islamic Republic's leader has drawn widespread criticism.

Iran's Ministry of Health announced that 655 deaths from coronavirus occurred in the country from August 14 to August 15. This is the highest daily death toll in Iran since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak.

The IRGC commander said: "Those who want to speak to the Iranian nation in the language of America should know that our nation will not sacrifice its honor for anything."

• News agency close to the IRGC: Khamenei has honestly taken responsibility for banning the import of American and British vaccines

Ayatollah Khamenei said in a statement on January 9, 2020, a month after vaccinations began in the United States: “The entry of American and British vaccines into the country is prohibited. I have also told the authorities this. I am now saying this publicly.”

The Fars News Agency, close to the Revolutionary Guards, wrote in a report on Monday that the Leader of the Islamic Republic intended to "completely honestly and transparently take responsibility for the decision" to ban the import of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines into Iran and "prevent an attack on the country's executive officials."

Fars News Agency claimed that these statements were "the best opportunity for the counter-revolution" to "ride the wave of people's concerns and demands for vaccines."

Experts say that the actual number of deaths from COVID-19 in Iran is many times higher than the official figures.

Alireza Zali, head of Tehran's coronavirus response headquarters, recently said that when World Health Organization experts came to Iran, "we asked them to praise Iran's health system in the media" and "we hid the death toll statistics from this organization."

Source: Voice of America