Commander of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Threatens Critics Following Coronavirus Meeting
The commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, without naming any specific person or group, stated “Traitorous and treacherous people who smile at the West and whose voice is an echo of the West and America’s voice, know that they have no place in our country.”
According to Mehr News Agency, Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who spoke on Monday, August 25, in a meeting following the Supreme Leader’s orders to combat coronavirus, declared Ayatollah Khamenei, Islam, and the people as “three fundamental factors in the country’s overcoming problems over the past four decades.”
Following Iran’s ban on the import of effective vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna by Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran has one of the highest death tolls in the world relative to its population. This decision by the Islamic Republic’s leader has sparked considerable criticism.
Iran’s Ministry of Health announced that from August 24 to August 25, 655 deaths caused by coronavirus infection occurred in the country. This is the highest daily death toll in Iran since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic began.
The Guard commander said: “Those who want to speak to the Iranian nation in America’s language, know that our nation will not sacrifice its dignity for anything.”
- News agency close to the Guard: Khamenei has honestly taken responsibility for banning the import of American and British vaccines
Ayatollah Khamenei on December 10, 2020, one month after vaccination began in the United States, stated: “The entry of American and British vaccines into the country is forbidden. I have told the officials this as well. I am saying it publicly now.”
Fars News Agency, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, wrote on Monday in a report about this that the Supreme Leader intended to “completely honestly and transparently take responsibility for the decision” to ban the import of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to Iran and “prevent attacks against the country’s executive officials.”
Fars News Agency claimed that these statements were “the best opportunity for counter-revolution” to “ride the wave of people’s concerns and vaccine demands.”
Experts say the actual death toll from COVID-19 in Iran is several times higher than the official figures announced.
Aliresa Zali, head of Tehran’s coronavirus control 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 “hid death statistics from this organization.”
Source: Voice of America
