Hassan Rouhani takes over as head of the headquarters to combat coronavirus

Ali Larijani, the speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, sent a letter to Khamenei asking him to decide on the leadership of the task force to combat the coronavirus. In response to Larijani's letter, Khamenei said that the task force would be headed by Rouhani.

Following the intensification of the coronavirus crisis in Iran and the sharp increase in cases of the disease, some officials in the Islamic Republic had called for the leadership of the fight against the coronavirus to be removed from the Ministry of Health and for another body to take over this responsibility. There was talk of handing over this responsibility to the government and to Eshaq Jahangiri, Hassan Rouhani's first vice president.

On Tuesday evening, Channel 2 of the Islamic Republic of Iran Television broadcast statements by Masoud Pezzekian, Deputy Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. In this television program, Pezzekian officially announced that, by order of Ayatollah Khamenei, the responsibility of leading the headquarters to combat the coronavirus will fall to Hassan Rouhani.

Pezzekian reported on the news of a letter sent by Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, to Khamenei personally, and went on to say that Khamenei holds the Iranian President responsible for leading this headquarters.

The fact that the president personally took responsibility for this headquarters speaks volumes about the sensitivity of the situation in Iran. The coronavirus outbreak is claiming the lives of more and more people in the country every day.

According to official reports published by the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Health, the number of victims of the coronavirus in Iran has reached more than 291. This is while statistics published by other news sources have announced that the number of victims of this disease in Iran is much higher than the official statistics.

On the other hand, contradictory statements by officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding the number of victims of this disease have also severely reduced public trust in official statistics.

For example, Ali Akbar Mortezaei, the governor of Kashan, announced two days ago that at least 88 people had died in the city. This figure is far from the official figures announced by the Islamic Republic. Before that, the mayor of Qom had also published figures that did not match the official government figures.

Head of the Coronavirus Response Headquarters

Masoud Pezzekian's statements about handing over the leadership of the coronavirus task force to Hassan Rouhani come at a time when Rouhani has been appearing less in public in recent days. This issue has sparked heated discussions on social media with the hashtag "Where is Rouhani?"

Some users wrote on Twitter that “if Corona goes away, Rouhani will come.” One user, in response to the question “Where is Rouhani?”, wrote: “Everyone is asking where is Rouhani? What is he doing? Where was he when gasoline prices tripled? Where was he in November? Where was he when the IRGC’s defenses shot down a passenger plane? Where was he when the borders with China had to be closed? Where was he during the quarantine in Qom? What was he doing? He is still where he is now!”

Hassan Rouhani's appointment as head of the Coronavirus Response Headquarters comes in response to a request from a number of Islamic Republic officials to entrust such responsibility to the Council of Leaders of the Three Powers.

On the other hand, the demands of many doctors and healthcare activists in Iran regarding the need to quarantine a number of cities and provinces in Iran have remained unanswered. In recent days, doctors have repeatedly called for support for medical staff and the Ministry of Health in combating the coronavirus.

A large number of Iranian doctors and nurses are said to have died from the coronavirus, although the government of the Islamic Republic has not announced exact figures on the number of doctors and nurses who have contracted the disease and possibly lost their lives.

Source: DW