Leader: West Doesn’t Want Its Virus Failures to Be Seen

IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei says the United States and the Europeans do not want their failures in fighting the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to be seen.

He made the remarks in a video call to a meeting of the National Headquarters for Managing and Fighting the Coronavirus in Tehran on Sunday.

“The West and those supporting the West do not want this failure to be seen, but it is necessary to examine and articulate the dimensions of this inability,” the Leader said.

“The coronavirus spread in the United States and Europe later than other countries. It means that these countries had the opportunity to prepare themselves in the face of the virus, but they couldn’t as it was required,” Ayatollah Khamenei stated.

“The high number of infections and deaths in the United States and some European countries and various problems the people have in these countries, including unemployment, prove their inabilities,” he added.

The Leader also pointed out that the West’s social philosophy proved to be a total failure in tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

Ayatollah Khamenei noted that social philosophy in the Western world is primarily driven by materialism and money.

“That is why they ignored the elderly, the sick, the underprivileged and the socially underdeveloped during the corona crisis. Because [people belonging to] these social groups are incapable of earning money and contributing to materialism. The result was that many lost their lives in elderly care homes – a further proof of the defeat of the West’s social philosophy.”

The Leader also highlighted the failure of ethics and how it was manifested in Western communities in recent times. He recalled how panicked shoppers raided store shelves in those countries, noting, “Despite all their claims, the West failed in this respect as well.”

Meanwhile earlier President Hassan Rouhani said that today, the Islamic Republic of Iran is very proud of controlling and combatting the disease compared to other countries.

Addressing the meeting of National Headquarters for Managing and Fighting the Coronavirus,  President Rouhani, Ministers of Health and Interior, and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Force presented reports to the Leader in the session.

The President gave a report on the current state of the outbreak of coronavirus in the country and the measures taken to control and stop the spread of the virus and services provided to patients in this regard, appreciating the hard work of doctors and medical staff and other sectors working in this regard saying, “Today, the Islamic Republic of Iran is very proud in controlling and combatting the disease compared to other countries.”

Referring to the extensive measures taken since the formation of the National Task Force for Fighting Coronavirus in the form of eight committees and 80 meetings over the past 80 days, Rouhani said, “In the process of combatting this disease, one of the beauties, which was seen in a few countries, was the presence and efforts of everyone, including the IRIB, the armed forces, the ministries, the public and non-governmental organizations, as well as all people, the NGOs and donors.”

The President said that since April 13 after the peak of the disease, the death toll in the country has reduced to 2-digit figures from 3 digits before, saying, “In fighting coronavirus, we did not let a situation of life or bread happen in our country, despite the case in many countries, including the United States.”

“We took into account both the health of the people and bread and the economy in a very wise way,” said Rouhani.

He continued to talk about lifting of some restrictions from April 11 in some provinces, adding, “From April 18, shops in Tehran whose activities were very low-risk or medium-risk reopened, and next week, we might reopen some others very carefully based on the daily figures of the Ministry of Health.”

“Despite the pressure of sanctions, a lot of work has been done, and all the figures, including those of the infected, the recovered and the dead, are acceptable, and now we can be exporters in a lot of equipment and medical supplies,” the president said.

Rouhani referred to the division of the country into three regions of red, yellow, white or low-risk, and stated that today 158 cities around the country are among the white or low-risk areas, adding, “In these zones, activities, including in mosques, are taking place with observing health protocols, and today we decided to reopen schools next week only for students who want to go and ask their problems from their dear teachers, and of course it is not mandatory, and we have made special decisions for universities.”

Enumerating the economic problems caused by coronavirus and the government’s efforts to alleviate these problems, the president said, “It was very important to cover the costs of unemployment and health care, and because we did not have the resources to do so, with Your Excellency’s consent, one billion euros was allocated for this purpose, 30 percent of which was paid and the rest will be paid, and this was a very important task of ours.”

Rouhani referred to Justice Shares and said, “A great deal of work was done by Your Excellency and that was the agreement with the release of Justice Shares, among others, which I believe is the best help given to the deprived in these critical conditions.”

Rouhani also appreciated the measures taken by the Central Bank and said, “All economic measures taken, including 75-trillion-toman loans, have been the main task of the Central Bank.”