21 Nobel Laureates, Condemn Iran Regime’s Cover-Up Over Coronavirus Outbreak, Calling It a Crime Against Humanity
Written by
Mansoureh Galestan
Nobel laureates
21 Nobel laureates from US, Canada, Germany and Norway in a letter to the United Nations’ Secretary-General Antonio Guterres while condemning the Iranian regime‘s catastrophic cover-up of the coronavirus outbreak which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of Iranians and described it as a crime against and strongly condemned it.
The most prominent scientific figures in the world have announced that according to the Iranian opposition, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, Mujahedin-e Khalq or MEK) the coronavirus has so far taken lives of over 6,500 people (Recent reports by the MEK however confirms that as of Saturday, has exceeded 8,800) . They called on the UN Secretary-General to intervene urgently to prevent a much wider disaster and called on the World Health Organization (WHO) and international authorities to visit Iranian prisons to save lives and improve the health of prisoners and to prevent further deaths.
These 21 prominent scientific personalities of the world are:
Professor Michael Rosbash, Nobel Prize, Medicine 2017, USA
Professor Joachim Frank, Nobel Prize, Chemistry 2017, USA
Professor Oliver Hart, Nobel Prize, Economics 2016, USA
Professor Paul Modrich, Nobel Prize, Chemistry 2015, USA
Professor Randy Schekman, Nobel Prize, Medicine 2013, USA
Professor Arieh Warshel, Nobel Prize, Chemistry 2013, USA
Professor David Wineland, Nobel Prize, Physics 2012, USA
Professor Gerhard Ertl, Nobel Prize, Chemistry 2007, Germany
Professor John Mather, Nobel Prize, Physics 2006, USA
Professor Roger D. Kornberg, Nobel Prize, Chemistry 2006, USA
Professor John Lewis Hall, Nobel Prize, Physics 2005, USA
Professor Robert H. Grubbs, Nobel Prize, Chemistry 2005, USA
Professor Finn Kydland, Nobel Prize, Economics 2004, Norway
Professor Richard Roberts, Nobel Prize, Medicine 1993, USA
Professor Elias Corey, Nobel Prize, Chemistry 1990, USA
Professor Georg Bednorz, Nobel Prize, Physics, 1987, Germany
Professor John Polanyi, Nobel Prize, Chemistry 1986, Canada
Professor Jerome Friedman, Nobel Prize, Physics 1986, USA
Professor Dudley Herschbach, Nobel Prize, Chemistry 1986, USA
Professor Roald Hoffmann, Nobel Prize, Chemistry 1981, USA
Professor Sheldon Glashow, Nobel Prize, Physics, 1979, USA
Joint Letter of Nobel laureates to the United Nations Secretary-General
His Excellency Antonio Guterres
United Nations Secretary-General
The United Nations
New York, NY 10017
Dear Secretary-General,
The spread of the coronavirus has raised significant worry among people all over the world. Transparency, timely communication, and adoption of necessary measures all play a significant role in preventing the further spread of this pandemic (COVID-19).
We, Nobel laureates, wish to guide your attention to an extremely urgent catastrophe currently unfolding in Iran.
There are various reports that indicate that the clerical dictatorship ruling Iran has engaged in a cover-up, preventing the free flow of crucial information about the spread of coronavirus in that country. It covered up the truth in support of its political motives and agenda, including its intention to draw as many people out as possible so they attend its sham parliamentary elections and the anniversary of the 1979 revolution, which included street marches. As a result of the regime’s inaction, there has been a serious lack of preventive measures to control and ward off the spread of the novel coronavirus in Iran. For example, according to experts, the initial epicenter of the virus outbreak, the central city of Qom, was not quarantined, due to the regime’s parochial political considerations.
As a result of all this, COVID-19 has aggressively spread death and infections across Iran. At the time of writing, at least 6,500 coronavirus-related fatalities have resulted in Iran, according to the reports released by the PMOI-MEK, the Iranian opposition. While expressing our sympathy with the people of Iran, we express our sincere gratitude for the round-the-clock efforts of Iranian doctors, nurses and medical staff. They are providing care to patients despite significant challenges. Sadly, some have lost their lives after contracting the virus themselves while caring for patients.
The situation of prisoners, particularly political prisoners, is dire. According to reports by prisoners, a number of them have contracted the virus. Yet prison officials do not even allow prisoners to obtain medicine from their own families.
According to the Washington Post, the Iranian regime is building coronavirus burial pits so vast they’re visible from space.
Just as was the case with the 1,500 killed in a matter of a few days by the suppressive forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) during the November 2019 uprising, the primary party responsible for the growing deaths in Iran as a result of the coronavirus is none other than the clerical regime. On March 3, 2020, Amnesty International reported that 23 minors had been murdered by the regime during the November protests.
We are asking for your urgent intervention in the situation that is unfolding in Iran, as a means of preventing the further expansion of this catastrophe. We request that, with the help of the international community, all of the medical resources and treatment be taken out of IRGC’s control and instead be allocated to treatment and prevention efforts that can halt further spread of the coronavirus.
Through your office, we ask the World Health Organization and human rights organizations to visit Iranian prisons and take steps to save the lives and protect the health of prisoners in order to prevent another massacre.