BBC spreading fake news on Iran coronavirus toll for ignoble political goals: Health Ministry

A senior Health Ministry official categorically rejects the BBC Persian’s allegation that at least 210 people have died from coronavirus in Iran, saying the channel is seeking to take political advantage of the viral outbreak.

“Coronavirus has brought suffering and infirmity upon the people of the world. However, it has turned into a source of profit for such satellite channels and others with corresponding roles in Saudi Arabian and Albanian channels,” Kianoush Jahanpour, head of the Ministry’s Public Relations and Information Center, told IRNA on Friday.

“These are seeking to satisfy [their] ignoble political goals by creating anxiety and distress among nations, and are unfortunately making their money this way,” he added.

The BBC Persian carried the report earlier in the day, citing unnamed “hospital sources.”

“The media outlet’s claim is irrelevant. This time too it has drawn a blank,” the Iranian official said, noting that even the number of fatalities among those suffering from acute respiratory syndromes may not reach that high.

He said the channel had intentionally come up with the figure to sow fear among Iranians, and reminded that it has stopped short of naming its sources.

Jahanpour said the Islamic Republic viewed the issue of the outbreak as one that was tied to the public health, and would, therefore, avoid politicizing it.

The country, he noted, has observed rigor and transparency in its reports on the spread, while many others are either incapable of exactly recording their cases or would deny the number of victims for political reasons.

“I have to tell you that Iran is the first and the only country to release its information about coronavirus without any processing and in a fully transparent manner since the beginning of the outbreak,” the official, meanwhile, told Press TV on Friday night.

The level of Iran’s transparency “has taken many by surprise,” including some media outlets, which are known for their siding with Iran’s enemies, and their support for the sanctions that have come to target Iranians, including Iranian patients, he stated, referring to the BBC Persian and similar media organizations.

It was “inhumane” for a media organization that claims to be professional not to name its sources, Jahanpour asserted, reiterating that the British channel’s claims were “politically-motivated” and aimed at disturbing the public opinion and creating “horror” among the Iranian nation.

Iran has formed a special taskforce to confront the outbreak that first emerged in the north-central city of Qom.

Tehran has named the body as the only reliable authority concerning either preventative measures or the correct number of the victims.

So far, the virus that showed up in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year has claimed 34 people across Iran and infected 388 others, 73 of whom have recovered over the past days.

Iranian medical officials have assured that the country would, in the near future, rein in the outbreak, reminding that the condition of many patients diagnosed with the virus has improved.