Economic ties with China, the clandestine nature of the regime and religious bigotry that prevented the closure of pilgrimage sites have created a new focus for the disease • Fears the disease will spread to Syria and Iraq

• Citizens wearing masks in Tehran // Photo: Reuters

• City employees miss a car in Iran's subway // Photo: IP

• Soldiers secure the closed Iran-Pakistan border // Photo: AFP

The extent of the Iranian corona eruption on Tuesday received an almost tragic expression as the deputy minister of health is seen at an official press conference as he openly demonstrates the symptoms of the disease, looking around indifferently and trying to wipe his forehead with sweat, causing fever associated with the infection.

Not many hours after this purpose display, the regime acknowledged that the deputy minister, who was leading the efforts to contain the virus spread in the city of Com, was indeed contracting the disease. Regular spokesmen, including the Revolutionary Guards chief, rushed to flatten the government's message sheet, claiming that the plague would wane in a few weeks and that foreign media reports were exaggerated and prevented from being hated by the regime.

But despite the regime's denials, in terms of mortality, the Corona crisis in Iran is the second worst in the world, after China. While the official number of infections is 95, experts in the world estimate that it is much higher and hidden by the regime. And that is precisely this concealment that has contributed to the Iranian outbreak.

Today, authorities for the first time admitted that the outbreak of a Chinese citizen arriving in the country was probably over three weeks ago. Iran, suffering from paralyzing US sanctions, relies heavily on China to maintain its collapsing economy.

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Dozens of businessmen, workers and project managers from China arrive in Iran every day and the country's authorities, fearing total economic collapse, have done nothing to restrict Chinese arrivals, even as other countries have canceled flights and demanded passengers arriving from China to quarantine.

Iranian woman poses at a pharmacy in Tehran // Photo: Reuters



The result was at least one case of infection in the city of Qom, a holy city of Shiites that is a pilgrimage site for millions. Now there is growing concern that through the pilgrims' route in the city, the virus has spread to all parts of Iran. While authorities knew about the infections, they managed to keep the outbreak hidden until February 19, when two of the infestations were already lying on their deathbed.

While the authorities, including President Rouhani, are trying to reduce the importance of the outbreak, in neighboring Middle East countries, the outbreak in Iran has become a huge cause for concern. In Iraq, with a huge Shiite population, they rushed to close land borders with Iran and began investigating pilgrims arriving in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala from Iran. An Iranian religious leader has even been a puppy from the state after he failed to heed the authorities' warning and came to visit the country.





Pilgrims in Najaf city in Iraq // Photo: AFP



Authorities in Iraq and Syria, who are largely dependent on Tehran's good will, find it difficult to restrict traffic to their territory from Iran but are at the highest risk due to their ruined health systems. Iraq, which only emerged from a prolonged civil war and a bloody protest and Syria, which is in the midst of fighting in the north of the country, will find it difficult to enable effective isolation of contractors and treat patients.

Even in Lebanon, the more stable, voices of anger were heard today over the state's decision not to completely cease airline relations with Iran, with the aim of allowing the Shiite minority in the country to go on pilgrimage to the holy sites in Iran, the sites most likely to spread the disease in the first place.

But those who pay the final price for Tehran's incompetence in dealing with the disease are Iranian citizens who have experienced increasing disappointment in their government's ability to protect and care for them in the past year. An acute currency crisis, unprecedented price rises, violent repression of two popular protest waves and an interception of a passenger plane full of Iranian civilians by Revolutionary Guards have caused irreparable damage to public confidence in the regime. Now the pervasive virus and the helplessness of the authorities are adding a particularly explosive oil to the bonfire of frustration.