The ruler of Iran has suggested that America created a new strain of the coronavirus intending to infect Iranians. According to the Independent newspaper, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has publicly declared that the United States created ‘a special version’ of the deadly coronavirus now ravaging the country. The deadly coronavirus has killed at least 1,685 Iranians, including 129 in the last 24 hours.
Ayatollah Khamenei also rejected US offers of help in a speech on Sunday marking the beginning of the Persian calendar year. He also suggested Washington would exploit any acceptance of American aid. In his speech, the Ayatollah said: ‘The American leaders have said several times that ‘we are willing to provide you with treatment and medical assistance.’ He added: ‘First of all, you face shortages yourselves. If you have anything available, use it yourselves. Second, you, Americans, are accused of producing this virus. I do not know how true this accusation is. But as long as this accusation stands, which sane mind will trust you?’
The accusation is the latest propaganda effort against the United States, with the Chinese government already accusing the USA of manufacturing the virus. Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused American officials of dishonesty over what the US government knows about the disease. According to the New York Times, the unfounded conspiracy theory was recirculated on China’s tightly controlled internet on Friday after Zhao Lijian made the accusations on Twitter.
The conspiracy theories mark ever-deepening tensions between the US and Iran, and the US and China. Iran’s deputy health minister, Alireza Raisi, has already accused the UK of impeding its efforts to fight the crisis by prohibiting the sale of a million surgical masks due to US sanctions. He said: ‘We had bought several million masks from Britain before [the epidemic started] but the country did not deliver them to us due to the sanctions.’ Mr. Raisi did not elaborate on the details of the deal.
More than 21,000 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Iran, which has been the third most affected country after China and Italy respectively. Speaking to the Fars News Agency, Mr. Raisi said that many Iranian medical staff had become sick because of shortages of protective equipment and masks and that efforts to obtain the materials had been prevented by long-standing sanctions on the Iranian regime.
In 2015, the US imposed further rules were after Donald Trump’s administration pulled out of the nuclear deal and launched a renewed economic blockade of the country. Mr. Raisi added: ‘We are facing serious problems for ordering, purchasing and transferring money due to the sanctions,’ ‘We cannot buy ventilator systems and ICU [intensive care unit] beds. Also, transferring money to purchase certain drugs is not possible for us.
