Iranians at a vaccination center. Less than 4% of the population has been fully inoculated. (AFP)

UPDATE, AUG 25:

Iran’s record for daily Coronavirus deaths has risen to 709.

The record is the fourth in 10 days, taking the official death toll to more than 103,000.

The Health Ministry announced 40,623 new infections, raising the total to more than 4.76 million.

UPDATE, AUG 22:

Iran has set its third record in the past week for daily Coronavirus deaths.

The Health Ministry reported 684 deaths on Sunday, compared to 112 on June 23. Another 36,419 infections were announced.

Iran has officially declared more than 102,000 deaths and almost 4.7 million cases.

Despite the surge, Revolutionary Guards commander Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami has pushed back against the acceptance of vaccines made in the US:

We cannot trust the enemies and allow them to inject the vaccine solution into the bodies of our people, because we know that in the enemy’s strategy, paralyzing the Iranian people is a definite goal.

Using biological weapons is an integral part of the enemy’s military approach. Can the enemy be allowed to inject our people with its vaccine solution, which we do not know what is it?

UPDATE, AUG 20:

Iran’s official Coronavirus toll has passed 100,000.

The Health Ministry announced 564 deaths on Thursday, raising the total to 100,255.

On Monday, Iran set a daily record of 655 fatalities. The 7-day average for daily deaths is a record 577.

The Ministry reported 38,202 cases yesterday, taking the total to 4,587,683.

With the import of more vaccine doses, the percentage of fully-vaccinated Iranians has reached 5.3%.

President Ebrahim Raisi issued no comment about the deadly marker of the pandemic. Instead, his office trumpeted Raisi’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, proclaiming the priority of “cementing ties” and presenting a document on cooperation as soon as possible.

UPDATE, AUG 18:

Iran’s daily deaths eased slightly on Sunday to 625, after Saturday’s record of 655. However, the record 7-day average rose to 571.

The Health Ministry reported a record 50,228 cases, shattering the previous mark by almost 20%. The record 7-day average rose to 39,795.

Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi tried to offer a glimmer of hope amid the figures, declaring that hospitalization rates have flattened in 14 of Iran’s 31 provinces.

But the semi-official outlet Tasnim undercuts Harirchi with its article detailing “an unprecedented increase in the number of patients“.

UPDATE, AUG 17:

Iran has set a Coronavirus death record for the second day in a row.

The Health Ministry reported 655 fatalities on Monday, breaking Sunday’s mark of 620.

The 7-day average for daily deaths is a record 554, more than 350% than the 120 on June 25.

The Ministry reported 41,194 cases yesterday, taking the 7-day average to a record 38,211.

Iran’s official toll is now 98,483 deaths and almost 4.5 million cases.

UPDATE, AUG 15:

Iran has recorded a new record for daily deaths with 620, taking the official total to 97,828.

The Health Ministry announced another 36,736 infections, raising the total to more than 4.4 million.

Amir Ali Savadkuhi, the president of the Intensive Care Association, summarized, “The situation is catastrophic….[Hospitals] just wait for patients to die because there is no treatment for this [number] of admissions.”

A six-day “general lockdown” in cities across the country begins on Monday. It includes bazaars, markets, public offices, movie theaters, gyms, and restaurants.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: With a fifth wave of Coronavirus, record daily deaths and cases, and a shambolic mass vaccination program, Iran’s medics say the health system is at breaking point.

Dr. Mahdiar Saeedian tells The New York Times from Iran’s second city Mashhad, “The situation we are facing is beyond disastrous. The health care system is on the verge of collapse.”

Saeedian added that even during the 1980-1988 war with Iraq, which killed hundreds of thousands of Iranians, “It was not like this.”

Hospitals are overcrowded and cemeteries — including the country’s largest, Behesht-e Zahra in Tehran, are reporting record numbers of burials.

The Health Ministry reported another 466 deaths on Saturday. The 7-day average is 534, compared to 120 on June 25 and 300 two weeks ago. The 7-day average of 38,568 daily cases is four times higher than two months ago.

But frontline doctors told The Times that the actual death toll is closer to 1,000 a day. Cases are also underreported because of insufficient testing and lack of access to healthcare.

Concern and anger has risen in recent weeks over the slow rate of vaccinations, with only 3.8% of the population fully protected, six months after the first inoculation.

The Supreme Leader has finally relented on his January ban on vaccines made in the US or UK, but officials are trading blame — without naming Ayatollah Khamenei — over the lack of supplies and coordination of the program.

A video has gone viral of a woman mourning her husband and crying, “Burn in hell, Khamenei!…If there were vaccines, my husband would still be alive!”

See also Coronavirus — Iran’s In-Fighting Over Deadly Vaccine Ban

Official and semi-official Iranian outlets are acknowledging the crisis and challenging officials. State TV is showing nurses crying on Coronavirus wards. Through videos on social media, doctors are pleading for action such as lockdowns and purchase of more foreign-made vaccines.

Dr. Nafiseh Saghi, a professor of medicine in Mashhad, appealed, “Whatever budget you have, whatever steps you can take, get help from the world, do it to save people. History will judge you.”

A Supreme Abdication of Responsibility?

The Supreme Leader has refused to take any responsibility. Instead of referring to his January ban, he lied about the vaccine shortage, “Foreign suppliers would renege on their promises despite having received the payments.”

On Wednesday, Dr. Alireza Zali, the head of Tehran’s Coronavirus committee, implicitly refuted Ayatollah Khamenei. He told Iranian media that officials had not allowed the purchase of the foreign vaccines because of the cost.

Early in the pandemic, the Revolutionary Guards turned away foreign humanitarian assistance and blocked the establishment of mobile medical facilities, expelling personnel from the international charity Médecins Sans Frontières.

Dr. Zali said,“[Superiors] told us to praise Iran’s health care system. We covered up real death tolls from the WHO [World Health Organization] and turned around international aid at the airport.”

Dr. Muhammad Reza Fallahian, a professor of medicine in Tehran, said, “Whoever is at fault must be held accountable. Our vaccinations are very, very late. What else can we doctors do that we are not doing? We are at the breaking point in Iran.”

“We Are Dying and Nobody Cares”

But Ebrahim Raisi, installed as President on August 5, has given no indication that he will take remedial action. Instead, on Friday he called for observance of health protocols and maintained that there is no problem in allocating currency to import vaccines.

“There is enough medicine and the vaccination process will accelerate,” he insisted before the National Coronavirus Task Force. “We hope with imports, we will see a large percentage of people vaccinated in a short time.”

Meanwhile, Ayatollah Khamenei overruled the Government’s warnings against mourning rituals in the holy month of Muharram, which began last week. Videos showed packed shrines and mosques, with many worshippers unmasked.

Ehsan Badeghi, a journalist for the State newspaper Iran, said his next-door neighbor, a 43-year-old mother of two young children, died a few days earlier waiting for an ambulance and unable to get a bed i hospital.

Vaccination or quarantine both need money and planning and neither is happening here.

So the pandemic rages and will continue to get worse. We are dying and nobody cares.