EXCLUSIVE:
Harrowing video shows sick Iranians collapsing in the street as activists
allege Iran's coronavirus pandemic started in Chinese embassy a month BEFORE
its first official case
EXCLUSIVE: New
videos have emerged of alleged coronavirus victims collapsing on the streets of
Iran in 10 locations across the country
It comes as
leaked ambulance service records show that three employees of the Chinese
embassy were hospitalised with covid-19 symptoms on January 28
The Iranian
government claimed that the three did not have coronovirus
It wasn’t until
February 19 that the first case was confirmed in Qom, 100 miles away, and
blamed on a merchant who had travelled to China
Activists
estimate that coronavirus deaths in Iran exceed 43,800 across 320 towns, but
the Iranian government claims that only 7,417 have died so far
Here’s how to
help people impacted by Covid-19
By JAKE WALLIS SIMONS, ASSOCIATE
GLOBAL EDITOR
29 May 2020 | UPDATED: 04:45 EDT, 29
May 2020
Harrowing footage
shows sick people collapsing in streets across Iran, amid allegations that the
country's coronavirus pandemic started in the Chinese embassy in Tehran three
weeks before its first official case was announced.
In one of the clips, a man slumps
on the kerb in Zahedan, southeast Iran, coughing and clearly in severe pain. In
another, a woman lies face-down on the floor of a Metro station while
bystanders give her a wide berth.
It comes as
distrust grows over the Iranian government's alleged cover-up of the pandemic,
with fears that the death toll may be five times as high as reported.
Ambulance records handed to
MailOnline show that three Iranian employees of the Chinese embassy in Tehran
were hospitalised with suspected covid-19 symptoms on January 28.
It wasn't until three weeks later,
on February 19, that Iran's first covid patient, a merchant, was officially
identified in Qom, about 100 miles south of Tehran.
Activists accused the Iranian
leadership of hushing up the earlier cases, in order not to embarrass the
Chinese. Tehran relies heavily on Chinese support as US sanctions continue to
bite, they said.
But an Iranian government spokesman
hit back, claiming that the embassy workers, who had high fevers and severe
coughs, did not have coronavirus. They have since been discharged from hospital.
One of the ambulance service
documents showing that an employee of the Chinese embassy in Tehran was taken
to hospital with covid-19 on January 28
The leaked
ambulance records were handed to MailOnline by the National Council of
Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a network of anti-regime activists.
The controversial
group made headlines in 2002 when it revealed key details of Tehran’s nuclear
programme. It has gone on to leak intelligence
regularly, though this has not always been reliable.
The NCRI
estimates that deaths from the virus in Iran exceed 43,800 across 320 towns. By
contrast, the Iranian government claims that only 7,417 citizens have died from
the virus so far.
According to the ambulance service
records, or ‘115 forms’, three Iranian employees of the Chinese embassy in
Tehran were taken to hospital on January 28 with symptoms of covid-19.
The patients included a 37-year-old
woman and two 33-year-old men, one of whom had recently visited China.
One of the first responders’
reports said: ‘[The patient is] 33-years-old, with severe coughing, symptoms of
cold.
‘He says he was in China for the
past 12 days, and in the first three days after arriving in Tehran, he had high
fever, diarrhoea, and severe coughing.
‘He says he works at the Chinese
Embassy (in Tehran), and his colleagues have had symptoms of coronavirus. He is
hospitalised.’
An emergency cemetery for covid-19
victims in Qom +11
Covid-19 victims are buried in
Arak, central Iran +11
Cemeteries in Qom and Arak which
have been set aside for the burial of coronavirus victims
Other ambulance records show that a
33-year-old woman was rushed to hospital with symptoms of covid-19 on January
31, after leading a tour of Chinese nationals. She had fallen ill at Imam
Khomeini Airport in Tehran.
A spokesman for the Iranian
government said: 'The patients seem to have left the hospital later, as it was
proved that the cases were not coronavirus. There are no other records.
Statements by patients at the admission stage, before tests, may not be used as
proof for any disease.
Iran has been at the centre of the
coronavirus pandemic in the region. In reacting slowly to the threat, and
failing to clamp down on air links with China, the leadership has been accused
of prioritising its partnership with China over public health.
Disturbing videos show vast
coronavirus cemeteries in Tehran, Qom and the western city of Arak, as well as
footage of a covid-19 victim being hurriedly buried by uniformed men under
cover of darkness.
Experts have accused Iran of a huge
cover-up of the scale of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
David Patrikarakos, Fellow at the
School of Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews, told MailOnline:
‘Iran is incredibly reliant on
China, especially since the re-imposition of US sanctions. So the regime would
not do anything to embarrass the Chinese government.
‘Admitting that there was
coronavirus within the Chinese embassy in January would have done just that, so
it would be no surprise if Iran covered it up.’
He added: ‘Since the beginning of
this crisis, Iran has been very reluctant to tell truth to its own citizens.
That is because the regime has some culpability because it was so slow to
respond.'
Several universities have modelled
the true scale of the coronavirus pandemic in Iran. Experts at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) said that covid-19 deaths had reached 15,485 by
the end of March, and would hit 58,000 in June.
Shahin Gobadi, an
NCRI spokesman, said: ‘The Iranian regime is engaged in a massive cover-up
regarding the spread of the coronavirus.
‘They
have been extremely under-reporting the death toll, because the staggering
figures would demonstrate their incompetence, ineptitude, mismanagement, and
negligence both in terms of disseminating the relevant information in a timely
manner and in providing medical care and treatment to those in need of help.’
But the Iranian leadership insisted
that its handling of the crisis was transparent and responsible.
A spokesman said: 'There are lot of
conspiracy theories around the source of covid-19, including some in Britain
about 5G. It is unfortunate that some have engaged in blame game to advance
certain political aims, when nations should work together to combat and
eradicate such a vicious virus.
'Iran, as the hub of medical tourism
in West Asia, benefits from the best health service in the region. Official
figures by this service continue to be the most credible source for information
about covid-19 in Iran.
'Iran and China have helped each other in the fight against the
disease, despite the inhuman US sanctions on drugs and medicine. These continue
despite global requests for its removal to help Iran's health service combat
the virus more efficiently.'
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