UPDATE, 1110 GMT:
The Health Ministry has raised the official death toll to 4,585, an increase of 111 from Sunday.
There are now 73,303 confirmed cases, with 3,877 patients in critical condition.
With Coronavirus deaths moving towards the 5,000 mark, Iran’s regime has revived the line that it may be “Western biological warfare”.
Gen. Hassan Araghizadeh (pictured), the head of the Iranian military’s Health Department, said Sunday, “Every country is considering this matter to see the likelihood of any biological warfare behind the issue.”
He proclaimed that “special health sectors are dedicated to carrying out extensive research and taking the necessary measures in countering bioterrorism”.
The Health Ministry raised the death toll on Sunday to 4,474, an increase of 117 in 24 hours. There are 71,686 confirmed cases, with 3,930 patients in critical condition.
“Biological Offensive”
Iran’s Supreme Leader initially said that fear of Coronavirus was a “Western plot” to hinder turnout in the country’s Parliamentary elections on February 21. When Ayatollah Khamenei finally acknowledged the threat in early March, he suggested the US had created the virus. Revolutionary Guards commander Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami spoke of a “biological offensive”.
Deputy Health Minister Reza Malekzadeh pushed back in mid-March that the virus was not created by a Western lab, saying, “We certainly should have been more vigilant” in checking its spread.
But Khamenei renewed his claim a week later, chiding the US: “You could be giving medicines that spread the virus or cause it to remain. Experience shows you can’t be trusted and you do such things.”
See also Iran Daily, March 23: Supreme Leader Proclaims US May Have Created Coronavirus
Gen. Arghizadeh stopped short on Sunday of saying there was confirmation of the West’s evil scheme: “The Iranian scientific centers are…conducting researches in this regard, however, a definite decision needs more time and effort.”
Iran was not the first to think the novel coronavirus was engineered: https://keralakaumudi.com/en/news/news.php?id=233326
“A former Israeli military intelligence doctor said suspicions were raised about the institute when a group of Chinese virologists working in Canada improperly sent samples to China of what he said were some of the deadliest viruses on earth, including the Ebola virus.”