In the face of coronavirus, the Islamic Republic of Iran initiated a campaign of lies, deceit, and cover-up. They did so in order to hide the depth of the coronavirus tragedy in Iran.

In this CovidCon conference organised by the Human Rights Foundation, Masih Alinejad goes through how early on the Islamic Republic knew about the crisis, but attempted to conceal the facts.

There are at least 10 pieces of evidence showing that the authorities in Iran tried to cover up the coronavirus epidemic. Now, they’re trying to attribute the spread of coronavirus to American sanctions.

After long denying that the coronavirus had hit Iran, the authorities could no longer hide the outbreak. However, even then, they attempted to capitalise on the tragedy and shift the blame to American sanctions despite the fact that Iranian authorities themselves were directly responsible for its spread. By doing so, the Islamic Republic of Iran tries to blur the waters and wash its hands from the criminal negligence and mismanagement if the crisis by blaming the sanctions. As Masih Alinejad said,

“Some in the international community naively think they have to choose between the Islamic Republic and the Trump administration. No! You only have one option: human rights. Islamic Republic committed crimes against humanity”