U.S. Congressman: Khamenei’s Denial Turned Qom and Mashhad into Centers of Coronavirus Spread for Shiite Pilgrims
John Curtis, Republican representative from Utah in Congress and member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, held the leader of the Islamic Republic responsible for the widespread outbreak of coronavirus in Iran, saying he “denies scientific facts.”
Mr. Curtis, in an article written and published in collaboration with Khosrow Semenani, an Iranian-American industrialist and philanthropist and leader of the local community in Salt Lake City, Utah, wrote: “[Ali Khamenei’s] denial regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, and claiming it is a rumor, turned religious cities like Qom and Mashhad into a whirlwind of infection for countless Shiite pilgrims.”
Messrs. Curtis and Semenani wrote in this joint article published in The Hill newspaper: “As if contaminating Iran and the Middle East was not enough; Khamenei denied this pandemic to boost parliamentary election turnout figures.” The article continues: “After Khamenei exposed Qom and large parts of Iran to [the risk of contamination] in order to support the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ special relationship with China, he now accuses the United States of conspiracy to sicken the Iranian people.”
Messrs. Curtis and Semenani also wrote that Iranians’ anger over the widespread virus outbreak in Iran led to the trending of the hashtag “Khamenei Virus” (#KhameneiVirus) on social networks.
The authors of this article, while expressing their disagreement with a recent statement by Joe Biden, former U.S. Vice President, criticizing the Trump administration’s policy on implementing a maximum pressure campaign against Iran, described that statement as “a mischaracterization of U.S. intentions.”
Joe Biden had stated in his remarks that the maximum pressure campaign “has backfired” and called on the Trump administration to take immediate steps to establish channels for providing banking facilities and assistance to public health in response to the health emergency situation in Iran.
Source: Voice of America
