Iran has released 54,000 prisoners to avoid spreading coronavirus after its cases soared to more than 2,300 today, including 77 deaths.
Tehran’s judiciary said the inmates were allowed out only after testing negative for COVID-19 and posting bail, while ‘security prisoners’ jailed for more than five years would not be released.
It comes amid fears that the British-Iranian prisoner Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 41, might have the deadly contagion after her husband Richard Ratcliffe said she was suffering from cold-like symptoms over the weekend but had not been tested.
A judiciary spokesman poured scorn on the concerns yesterday and said Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was in good health. The Ayotallah meanwhile has been putting up a similarly combative front despite one of his most trusted advisers dying and eight percent of his parliament infected.
An Iranian medic treats a patient infected with the COVID-19 virus at a hospital in Tehran on Sunday
British-Iranian prisoner Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 41, might have the deadly contagion her husband said as the Foreign Office calls on Tehran to provide medical intervention
‘This calamity is not that big of a deal, and that there have been bigger ones in the past,’ Khamenei said yesterday while wearing a pair of protective gloves. ‘I do not want to underestimate this issue of course, but let us not overestimate it either.’
The Foreign Office has called on the Iranian government to immediately see to it that Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was jailed on spurious espionage charges, be assessed by medical professionals.
Yesterday, Labour MP Tulip Siddiq tweeted that Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been granted a furlough either yesterday or today to visit her family.
However, the Iranian ambassador to the UK Hamid Baeidinejad referred opaquely to a ‘security prisoner’ being released on furlough and later deleted his tweet.
‘This calamity is not that big of a deal, and that there have been bigger ones in the past,’ Khamenei said yesterday while wearing a pair of protective gloves. ‘I do not want to underestimate this issue of course, but let us not overestimate it either’
On Friday, Mr Ratcliffe said he was concerned about the health of his wife who already suffers from from unexplained collapses to irregular heartbeats.
Sources suggest that she already has coronavirus but warned authorities are likely to supress this information and may deny her tests to prove whether she has it.
Another inmate is believed to have died from the virus and at least four others are said to have it.
Khamenei yesterday reiterated the importance of Islamic faith in guiding the nation after one of his top brass Mohammad Mirmohammadi, member of the Expediency Council which is hand-picked by the Supreme Leader, died aged 71 on Monday.
‘Prayer can solve many problems,’ the Ayatollah said.
Despite this, Iran’s supreme leader has put the Islamic Republic’s armed forces on alert to assist health officials in combating the outbreak.
After downplaying the coronavirus as recently as last week, Iranian authorities have now said they had plans to potentially mobilize 300,000 soldiers and volunteers to confront the virus.
Iranian media reported that 23 members of parliament now had the virus, as well as the head of the country’s emergency services.
Richard Ratcliffe and the couple´s daughter Gabriella. Ratcliffe has intensified his calls on the British Government to secure his wife’s release
Hampstead and Kilburn’s Tulip Siddiq aid she hoped Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe would no longer be used as a bargaining chip by the British and Iranian government
‘Whatever helps public health and prevents the spread of the disease is good and what helps to spread it is sin,’ Khamenei said, who has not worn gloves at past arbor day plantings.
Khamenei also urged citizens to follow the health authorities’ instructions and praised their ‘honesty’ and ‘transparency,’ saying they have been keeping the public up to date since day one.
Mohammad Mirmohammadi is one of several regime members to have caught the virus, after vice president Masoumeh Ebtekar and visibly struggling health minister Iraj Harirchi were also infected.
It comes as the Iranian regime was accused of ‘endangering the lives of Iranians and the world’ after alarming videos of worshippers licking a shrine emerged online.
There are also fears that Iran is covering up the true scale of the crisis, with official figures showing a suspiciously high death rate – suggesting there may be more infections than the regime is willing to admit.
Iran’s claims to have the virus under control lost further credibility last week when the deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi, was taken into quarantine, just a day after sweating profusely at a press conference (pictured)
Mohammad Mirmohammadi (pictured left), a member of the Expediency Council which is hand-picked by the Supreme Leader of Iran, died aged 71 after falling sick with coronavirus. In this picture he is seated alongside two other officials, including Ali Akbar Velayti (centre)
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), has claimed that the death toll is as high as 650 – nearly ten times the official count.
Experts worry Iran’s percentage of deaths to infections, now around 3.3%, is much higher than other countries, suggesting the number of infections in Iran may be far greater than current figures show.
Iran stands alone in how the virus has affected its government, even compared to hard-hit China, the epicenter of the outbreak.
State media announced Mirmohammadi’s death yesterday morning in the virus’s most direct blow to the regime so far.
Evin jail (pictured above) is said to have been hit by a coronavirus outbreak and there are fears surrounding Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release
The Expediency Council which he sat on advises the Ayatollah and helps to settle disputes between the Supreme Leader and the Iranian parliament.
He previously served as the head of the presidency under former Presidents Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Ali Khamenei, now the country’s supreme leader.
Mirmohammadi’s mother had died of the coronavirus in recent days as well, Iranian media reported.
Those sick also include Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar and Iraj Harirchi, the head of an Iranian government task force on the coronavirus who tried to downplay the virus before falling ill.