Letter from Social Activists to Michelle Bachelet: Take Action to Control Coronavirus in Iran
Social activists, trade unionists, and artists have sent a letter to Michelle Bachelet and several other international officials, calling on them to take action to control coronavirus in Iran, otherwise “we will witness a horrifying mass death in Iran”.
Ten social and trade union activists have sent a letter to Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and several other international officials, asking them to “immediately take serious measures to control and contain the spread of coronavirus in Iran, including ensuring the import of vaccines in sufficient quantities and vaccinating every Iranian”.
The authors of this letter, pointing to high statistics of coronavirus infections and deaths, have attributed this situation to the ban on importing American and British vaccines by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Republic, stating: “Unfortunately, the announcement of the ban on importing vaccines from the United States and Britain by the system’s leader on December 10, 2020, has resulted in, instead of following the global policy of controlling coronavirus through vaccination, accelerating the prevalence and spread of this disease in Iran and increasing deaths.”
The letter also refers to the holding of religious ceremonies without observing health protocols, and predicts that for this reason, infection and death rates will be even higher in the coming weeks.
The authors of this letter have described the news and information released by Islamic Republic officials as “false and deceptive,” considering it “among the reasons for their failure and inadequacy in controlling the spread of coronavirus and increasing deaths in Iran.” For example, they refer to statements by Abdolnasser Hemmati regarding the non-entry of vaccines due to sanctions, which Covax formally denied.
The signatories of this letter have formally declared that in their view, “the reported statistics of deaths from coronavirus infection by the government are not accurate.” They have also written that the vaccination method in Iran is not correct and “not only have the necessary and sufficient measures to control coronavirus not been taken, but by neglecting vaccination and promoting widespread collective religious ceremonies, a policy is being prepared for greater infection and massacre of people”.
At the end of this letter, international bodies are asked to immediately take necessary measures to control coronavirus in Iran, “otherwise we will be facing a horrifying mass death in Iran”.
Shahnaz Akbarpour (activist mother), Ismail Bakhshi (labor trade union activist), Jafar Panahi (film director), Mohammad Habibiam (teachers’ trade union activist), Mohammad Rasulaf (film director), Mohammad Seifzadeh (human rights lawyer), Jafar Azimzadeh (labor trade union activist), Akram Naghibi (activist mother), Mohammad Norizad (documentary filmmaker), and Narges Mohammadi (human rights defender) are the signatories of this letter.
Source: DW
