Over the past year, the coronavirus has spread across the world, even reaching as far as Antarctica. The onset of the pandemic has ravaged the global economy and left healthcare systems on the verge of collapse. In Iran, the situation is particularly dire. Although the government initially downplayed the severity of the virus, the country has been hit hard, with over 1 million reported cases, rampant poverty, thousands of closed businesses, and an outrageous number of deaths. The Persian nation is failing to contain the spread of the virus and institute effective aid and recovery programs. The government must do more to support its people during this time of need, and it must demonstrate accountability for its failures in this regard.
When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit Iran, the country’s authorities refused to acknowledge the grave threat the virus posed to the country, labeling it as propaganda, and failed to act swiftly. As a result, the government delayed the closing of mosques and did not institute strict restrictions on gatherings and businesses. The consequences of this are visible today with over 1.28 million cases, which have resulted in almost 56,000 deaths. The virus has impacted average Iranians and high-ranking officials alike, and as of October, Iran entered its third wave, placing further strain on the country’s healthcare system. Indeed, in many parts of the Persian nation, there are not enough medications to treat the sick. “The most worrying thing for a doctor is to know there are medicines (plentifully) available in some parts of the world but not here,” said Dr. Alireza Fatemi.
The coronavirus pandemic has also upended Iranian society in numerous other ways. For example, the country’s economy was already faltering due to U.S.-led sanctions, which began in 2018. However, the onset of the pandemic caused even further damage. Data from March 2019 to March 2020 reveals that real per capita household expenditure fell on average by a whopping one-third in the first after COVID-19 spread through the country, a figure that is three times faster than for the year as a whole. Thousands of Iranians have been forced to shutter their businesses and have been plunged into poverty, with many of them unable to afford basic necessities like food. Inflation has also played an enormous role in the grim economic prospects of the country. In September 2020, inflation spiked 34.4 percent.
In response to its growing economic woes, the regime attempted to cut fuel subsidies. However, this sent gasoline prices soaring 50% overnight and triggered nationwide protests, demonstrating growing discontent among Iranians. As a result, Iran asked the International Monetary Fund for $5 billion. Although the loan has not been granted yet, partly due to the U.S.’ ongoing campaign against Iran, if it is, it would be the first-such loan since 1962. Despite its efforts to obtain aid, however, the government has been unsure about accepting it. In March, it revoked permission for Doctors Without Borders to work in the country. Additionally, the country’s supreme leader refused to accept U.S. aid based on a conspiracy theory that the virus was genetically-engineered by the United States to infect Iranians. Now, the Persian nation has banned vaccines from the U.S., and the UK and has announced it is working with another authoritarian regime, Cuba, on the development of a new vaccine. Evidently, the Ayatollahs seem to place greater emphasis on their political agendas than assisting their people both economically and health-wise.
These rash policy decisions and the government’s inability to effectively combat the virus have hurt the Iranian people and significantly undermined their trust in the regime. The government has been notorious for underreporting deaths. Earlier in 2019, for example, the government reported that only a handful of people had died of the virus in the country. However, in the city of Qom itself, 50 people had died of the virus, and 250 were in quarantine, and the Ayatollahs failed to provide adequate medical treatment to those infected. The lies and incompetency have led Iranians to distrust their regime.
Further, while other governments around the world rushed to institute robust contact tracing methods that could help monitor and track the virus’s spread, the Iranian government failed to do so. As a result, it missed out on a vital opportunity to identify, isolate, and treat those impacted by the deadly virus. The regime’s ineffective policies and response efforts have seriously damaged the faith Iranians have in its administrative powers. Today, most Iranians are refusing to adhere to the government’s COVID-19 orders.
The COVID-19 pandemic has demolished the Iranian economy, uprooted the country’s society, and pushed its healthcare system to a breaking point. The regime’s failure to acknowledge the gravity of the pandemic when it first spread within its borders was a grave mistake, and it set the country and its subsequent response efforts up to fail. Today, Iranians have had their lives devastated by the pandemic, and the government has done little to support them. As Iranians grow increasingly discontent with the government, it must do more to respond to the coronavirus and its impacts. If it does not, the consequences for both the Iranian people and the regime itself will continue to be severe.
