Coronavirus claims the life of "Faribarz Rais Dana", an economist who was a fearless critic of the Islamic Republic

Dr. Faribars Raisdana, an economist critical of the Islamic Republic, died on Monday morning, March 16, at Tehran Pars Hospital.

According to Nasser Zarafshan, Mr. Rais Dana's former lawyer, he, who in one of his last media interviews with Voice of America had explicitly called the elections in the Islamic Republic meaningless, had been hospitalized for 6 days due to coronavirus.

Fariborz Raeesdana, born in 1948 in Tehran, was a former professor of economics at the university and a member of the Iranian Writers' Association. He was a human rights activist and a supporter of workers' rights who had been arrested and imprisoned many times by the security institutions of the Islamic Republic.

He also wrote more than 15 books on economic and political issues and was a fearless critic of the Islamic Republic in his media interviews.

Mr. Raees Dana participated in an interview with Voice of America on the last day of February this year and said that at least 50 percent of Iranian urban residents are below the absolute poverty line and that Iran is in economic misery. He also said that with the existence of political prisoners in Iran, the elections of the Islamic Republic are meaningless and that the elected officials are only the link between the government and the constituency, and not the true representatives of the people.

Source: Voice of America