Posted on 03/17/2020 5:42:48 PM PDT by LibWhacker
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Appearing before the cameras coughing and sweating profusely, the man leading Iran's response to the new coronavirus outbreak promised it was of no danger to his country.
"Quarantines belong to the Stone Age," Iraj Harirchi insisted.
A day later, he himself would be in quarantine from the virus.
Harirchi's story is a microcosm of what has happened in Iran amid the coronavirus pandemic. Roughly nine out of 10 cases in the Middle East come from the Islamic Republic, which has reported over 16,000 people infected and at least 988 deaths amid fears that cases may still be underreported. While most people who are infected recover, the virus spreads rapidly and can kill the elderly and those with breathing problems or other underlying illnesses.
Days of denials gave the virus time to spread in Iran as the country marked the 41st anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution with mass demonstrations and then held a parliamentary election in which authorities desperately sought to boost turnout. Now, state television warns the virus could kill “millions” as its supreme leader issued a religious order Tuesday banning “unnecessary travel.”
Although Iran has one of the Mideast's best medical services, its hospitals appear to be overwhelmed and authorities have asked for 172 million masks from abroad. It also has asked the International Monetary Fund for $5 billion, the first such loan for Iran since 1962.
The Islamic Republic has an opportunity to limit the virus with the approach of the Persian New Year, Nowruz. The rare religious decree by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei curtailing travel in the country could help, but it came days after Iraq and Lebanon, both allies of Iran, restricted movement while facing a fraction of the reported infections.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
Wuhan virus came from Chinese scientists working at their nuclear facilities...
feel sorry for innocent Iranians, the regime will doesn’t give a shit about ‘em
Iran’s answer to Baghdad Bob.
Were the Iranians doing some research with the Chinese? Seems like alot of their top people got it.
They would have been fine . . . if you could stone a virus to death.
I wish no illness upon the Iranian people. They are victims, of an incredibly corrupt and paranoid ruling cadre of old, tired, fascists. Maybe this will be the straw that breaks the, forgive me, “camel’s back.” And that “back” would be the continued tyrannical rule of the auto-genocidal mullahs in the leadership of Iran.
Wow, thanks. Fascinating to see what’s happening to those screwballs.
This is Yahoo News. Did I miss the part where they blame Trump for the spread in Iran?
Haha, or behead it.
Those infection numbers better be underreported - that’s a death rate of almost 1 in 16
good to know what somebody who has it looks and sounds like once they start having symptoms. Did the guy next to him get sick?
Yep, count me surprised. It was a long article and I wasn’t looking for a shot at Trump so I might of missed it, so fascinated was I with probably the best AP article I’ve read in years. Put it all down to the author, not AP.
We are talking about a backwards stone age society who preach wiping your butt with one hand and eating with the other and who believe that their god will protect them from all things.
Good for them, please keep believing these exact things so that never again will you be able to bother enlightened sane and rational countries.
Give each other a big old hug for me.
Want Money?
Get it from Hillary or Zero.
Hey! That's my cousin you're talking about.
Well, May Allah Be Praised.
Meanwhile Italy, which a year or so ago had a right wing lead anti-establishment coalition of the extremes, then saw its left rejoin the establishment and boot out the right (cf. changing from Trump+Bernie to Biden+Bernie) last May. The new government promptly signed on to Pax Chicoma and imported 300,000 Chinese Trojan hearses.
Unlike Epstein, who didn't kill himself.
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