“Khamenei Calls Coronavirus ‘Possible Biological Attack’, Asks Guards To Contain It,” Radio Farda, March 13, 2020.
Iran said Friday the security forces will clear the streets nationwide within 24 hours so all citizens can be checked for coronavirus. Major General Mohammad Bagheri said, “During the next 10 days, the entire Iranian nation will be monitored once through cyberspace, by phone and, if necessary, in person, and those suspected of being ill will be fully identified.” I’m not sure how they will do this. Nor do many believe they actually will. See “Iran imposes lockdown to check all citizens for virus,” Ahmad Parhizi, AFP, March 13, 2020.
“Letter to WHO Over Iran’s Concealment of Coronavirus,” Pooya Stone, Iran in Focus, March 13, 2020.
Despite other airlines in Iran being grounded, the Supreme Leader-led IRGC Mahan Air continues to fly to China and back, regardless of Pres. Rouhani government orders for all airlines to cease. So, IRGC wins over coronavirus. See “What Spurs Iran’s Mahan Air To Continue Flights To China Despite Public Outrage?,” Maryam Sinaiee, Radio Farda, March 13, 2020.
Rate of death and contraction is about 3 times higher in Iran than the Regime reports. Fine reporting by the WPost. See the article, “The Coronavirus burial pits so vast they’re visible from space,” Erin Cunningham and Dalton Bennett, Washington Post, March 12, 2020. Now that this story is out, a day old, you realize what the NRO has been watching for weeks.
A number of outlets are airing this story–these citizens thought or were told that drinking this moonshine would block coronavirus. “Iran: 73 people died after consuming toxic alcohol,” Ahmet Dursun, AA, March 12, 2020.
“CBC News: Iran’s COVID-19 crisis delaying planned transfer of Flight 752’s black boxes to Europe,” Unian, March 13, 2020.
The Pentagon said Friday it would keep two aircraft carrier task forces in the Gulf region after carrying out strikes in Iraq on five depots for Iran-supplied rockets. Early Friday the U.S. military launched air strikes against weapons depots of Kataeb Hezbollah, an Iraqi armed faction backed by Iran. The strikes, by manned aircraft, were in retaliation for a Wednesday rocket attack attributed to Kataeb Hezbollah that killed two American soldiers and a British soldier at Iraq’s Taji air base. The deployment of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Harry S. Truman marked the first time since 2012 that the Pentagon had authorized keeping aircraft carriers in the Gulf. McKenzie said Tehran had not pulled back its regional military operations since the U.S. killing in January of Qasem Soleimani, the top Iranian general who directed operations against U.S. forces and managed Tehran’s proxies. He added however that its ability to direct groups like Kataeb Hezbollah had been diminished by the loss of Soleimani and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Iranian leadership. “It’s harder for them to make effective decisions… Someone has replaced him. I don’t think that someone is going to be as good as him in the short term. We’ll see how it works out in the long term,” McKenzie said. The U.S. does not believe Iran wants a direct conflict, preferring instead to continue to act through proxies to harass American forces and promote its own ideology in the region. See “US Keeping Two Carriers in Gulf to Deter Iran Proxy Attacks,” Sylvie Lanteaume, AFP, March 13, 2020. See also, “Coronavirus Tension Makes Iran More Dangerous, U.S. General Says,” Glen Carey, Bloomberg, March 12, 2020.
“Iran Prepares for Political Upheaval Amid a Coronavirus Scare,” Jason Brodsky, National Interest, March 13, 2020. An interesting story about the illogical use of a non-physician health minister, and the Supreme Leader’s duplicate health network watching and criticizing the already embattled government led by Pres. Rouhani. The Leader stays above it all, willing to take credit but no blame.
“Iraq base attack: US in retaliatory strikes on Iran-backed fighters,” BBC, March 13, 2020.