Tehran Refutes BBC Report on Number of Iran Coronavirus Toll
IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK
TEHRAN – A senior Health Ministry official categorically rejects the BBC Persian’s allegation that at least 210 people have died from coronavirus in Iran, saying the channel is seeking to take political advantage of the viral outbreak.
“Coronavirus has brought suffering and infirmity upon the people of the world. However, it has turned into a source of profit for such satellite channels and others with corresponding roles in Saudi Arabian and Albanian channels,” Kianoush Jahanpour, head of the Ministry’s Public Relations and Information Center, told IRNA on Friday.
“These are seeking to satisfy [their] ignoble political goals by creating anxiety and distress among nations, and are unfortunately making their money this way,” he added.
The BBC Persian carried the report earlier in the day, citing unnamed “hospital sources.”
“The media outlet’s claim is irrelevant. This time too it has drawn a blank,” the Iranian official said, noting that even the number of fatalities among those suffering from acute respiratory syndromes may not reach that high.
He said the channel had intentionally come up with the figure to sow fear among Iranians, and reminded that it has stopped short of naming its sources.
Jahanpour said the Islamic Republic viewed the issue of the outbreak as one that was tied to the public health, and would, therefore, avoid politicizing it.
The country, he noted, has observed rigor and transparency in its reports on the spread, while many others are either incapable of exactly recording their cases or would deny the number of victims for political reasons.
“I have to tell you that Iran is the first and the only country to release its information about coronavirus without any processing and in a fully transparent manner since the beginning of the outbreak,” the official, meanwhile, told Press TV on Friday night.
He also said the number of the novel coronavirus cases has risen to nearly 600, with the death toll hitting 43.
Speaking on Saturday, Kianoush Jahanpour, the head of public relations and information center of the Iranian Ministry of Health, reported 205 new infections within 24 hours, mostly in the capital Tehran.
In total, he added, 593 people have contracted the disease and 43 have died.
Jahanpour further noted that 123 coronavirus patients have recovered from the infection.
The coronavirus — named COVID-19 — first emerged in China late last year and is now spreading in Europe and across the Middle East, sparking fears of a global pandemic.
In Iran, the virus showed up in the city of Qom, a destination for Muslim pilgrims from across the world.
The government has ordered the shutting of schools until Tuesday and extended the closure of universities and a ban on concerts and sports events for a week.
