Fearing Renewed Iran Protests, IRGC Vows To Search All Houses Under the Pretext of Combatting the COVID-19

Fearing Renewed Iran Protests, IRGC Vows To Search All Houses Under the Pretext of Combatting the COVID-19
Minoo Mohraz, member of the so-called National COVID-19 Task Force, on October 20 acknowledged that not closing the country is “political, not scientific.”

Written by
Shahriar Kia

IRGC forces (file photo)
As the coronavirus crisis worsens in Iran, the regime increases its oppression, fearing that the rising COVID-19 fatalities and mullahs’ mismanagement could lead to another round of major Iran protests.

The state-run Khabar-Online website on October 31 reported that Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) commander Gen. Hossain Salami has ordered IRGC forces raid people’s home under the guise of actively engaging in combatting the Coronavirus.

“We will use 54,000 Basij [paramilitary forces] bases as protectors of health. We will search for sick people from house to house, and we will perform the process of separating ill people from others and referring them to treatment centers,” Salami said, according to Khabar-Online.

The IRGC and Basij are the very same forces who gunned down 1500 protesters during the nationwide Iran protests in November 2019.

Besides, since the IRGC has control over Iran’s economy, it could have helped people fight the Coronavirus before. Instead, the regime forcefully reopened economy and held gatherings. While people were dying due to the coronavirus spread, the IRGC forces were busy spreading terrorism in the region.

In a similar development, Mizan news agency, an outlet affiliated to the regime’s Judiciary reported on Friday: “In order to promote public security and fight against insecurity, a headquarters will be established in the Public and Revolutionary Courts in Tehran.”

Citing recent orders by Ebrahim Raisi, the regime’s Judiciary Chief, on “dealing decisively with the miscreants and those harming the security of society and neighborhoods in Tehran,” Mizan reported that “dealing with norm-breakers,” or defiant youth, has been put on the Judiciary’s agenda.

 

When the coronavirus first entered Iran, the regime concealed its existence. To legitimize his regime, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ordered the sham parliamentary elections to be held at any cost.

Although the regime’s sham election was widely boycotted, those few regime supporters who participated became hosts of the virus and spread COVID-19 across Iran.
The November 2019 uprising rattled the regime’s foundations.

Even though the mullahs were able to oppress protesters, protests broke out once again less than two months later in January, with people chanting “Death to the dictator,” the primary slogan of major Iran protests. Fearing economic and international pressures could lead to an uprising, the regime tried to use the deadly Coronavirus as a tool for oppressing people.

The regime covered up the existence of the virus, and then continued downplaying the real extent of this virus. Instead of using Iran’s vast national resources, the regime refused to quarantine the country for months, and once it did, it rapidly ended the quarantine. People were forced back to work and schools were reopened.

In this regard, the state-run Mostaghel daily in July acknowledged that the regime used people’s “suffering and illness as a cure for obliviousness and a means of revenge over the events of November and December.”

Minoo Mohraz, member of the so-called National COVID-19 Task Force, on October 20 acknowledged that not closing the country is “political, not scientific.”

Now, the situation is out of the regime’s control. The rising death toll and authorities’ mismanagement have added to the society’s restiveness. Therefore, to counter possible protests and oppress defiant youth, the regime has increased its oppressive measures under the pretext of combatting the Coronavirus.

The state-run Etemad daily on October 28 wrote: “The officials should fear ‘that’ [upcoming uprising]. Because when it comes, it penetrates all protections and burns [the regime’s] roots and hopes. There will be no time to regret [years of] oblivion.”

 

Fearing Renewed Iran Protests, IRGC Vows To Search All Houses Under the Pretext of Combatting the COVID-19

 

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