Iranian women wear masks to guard against Coronavirus, Tehran, June 2020 (Reuters)

An epidemiologist on Iran’s Coronavirus Combat Task Force says the country’s actual number of Coronavirus cases may be 20 times higher than the official figure.

Mohammad-Reza Mahboubfar told the Jahan-e San’at newspaper that the Government was minimizing the infections for “security and political reasons” and hiding the real number of cases and deaths.

Authorities banned the newspaper on Monday, a day after Mahboubfar’s comments were published under the headline “No Trust in the Government’s Statistics”. Chief editor Mohammad Reza Saadi said the interview was the reason for the ban.

Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari rejected Mahboubfar’s remarks and claimed he was not a member of the Task Force. She was not clear if he had ever served on the group.

But in April, Iranian media identified the epidemiologist as a member of the Task Force when he said, “Given the lack of quarantine and the necessary social limitations, the Iranian government lags behind many countries.”

On Monday, the Health Ministry declared 189 deaths, bringing the total to 18,616. Another 2,132 infections were announced, raising the official tally to 328,844. Almost 4,000 patients are in critical condition.

But from the start of the outbreak in February, when the regime tried to limit the news because of Parliamentary elections, there have been claims by medics, activists, and some Iranian officials of underreporting by officials. A Parliamentary report in April said cases were almost double the Health Ministry’s announced figure.

Medical records, given to BBC Persian by an anonymous sources, documented almost 42,000 deaths up to July 20 — almost 150% higher than the Health Ministry’s tally of 17,405 at that point.

Mahboubfar said authorities detected Coronavirus in January, even though the first cases and two deaths were not declared until February 19.

There was no transparent flow of information….The government only provided engineered figures…over concerns about (its impact) on the election and the commemorations of the [1979 Islamic] Revolution’s anniversary.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on Iranian authorities to reverse their ban on Jahane Sanat, a daily specializing in economic issues.

The ban was imposed only three days after President Hassan Rouhani praised Iranian reporters, even though the Islamic Republic has one of the highest rates in the world for detention of journalists.

At the current time when fake news and false accounts are targeting the people’s hope and trust, we are more than ever in need of a relentless pursuit of reality, awareness raising and unbiased account of events.

“20% to 25% of Iranians Infected”

On a live Instagram program on Sunday, the Head of Iran’s Pasteur Institute, Ehsan Mostafavi, said results of random serological tests since April indicate that 20% to 25% of Iranians have been infected. He said 40% to 50% of those cases may be asymptomatic.

President Rouhani, citing a Parliamentary report, said last month that 25 million of Iran’s 84 million population may be infected.

Coronavirus — Iran’s President Rouhani Says 25 Million Infected

Mostafavi criticized Rouhani for insisting that the religious gatherings in the Islamic month of Muharram, starting on August 20, should not be cancelled.

Another member of the Coronavirus Task Force, Dr. Minoo Mohraz, warned about another wave of the virus. He said Health Ministry protocols are unlikely to check the spread during t Muharram ceremonies.

The Government imposed restrictions in March, at the time of Iranian New Year, and cases sank to an official low on 803 on May 2. However, amid Iran’s economic crisis, the Government began reopening businesses and other public spaces from April 11, and cases roses by 200% to 300% from mid-May.