Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani, a lawmaker from Iran’s city of Qom, has accused the government of covering up the full extent of the coronavirus outbreak in the city, according to semi-official news agency ILNA.
Qom is a popular place of religious study for Shiites from across the world. The ILNA said Farahani accused Iran’s health ministry of not being transparent about the outbreak. Authorities said the virus has killed 12 people, hours before it was said that the Qom death toll stands at 50.
“The rest of the media have not published this figure, but we prefer not to censor what concerns the coronavirus because people’s lives are in danger”, ILNA editor said, adding that more than 250 people are quarantined in the city.
However, Iran’s deputy health minister rejected the report: “I categorically deny this information”, he said. “We pledge to be transparent about the reporting of figures”, a government spokesman promised.
Farahani’s comments mirrored scepticism among the citizens of the country, that has increased since the government admitted to accidentally shooting down a Ukrainian plane.
The scepticism was also proven with the record low turnout in the country’s parliamentary election, which was widely forecast, with the rise of public anger over a worsening economic crisis and escalating tensions with the United States. However, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused foreign media of trying to use the outbreak to discourage people from voting in the election.
Today, a Health Ministry spokesperson has confirmed that Iran’s Deputy Health Minister, Iraj Harirchi, was tested positive for the virus and is kept under quarantine.