Iran’s Major General Hossein Salami reportedly doubled down Friday on claims the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) had invented a special magnetic, all purpose coronavirus detector machine that is the envy of the world.
The IRGC commander reasserted claims the miraculous device can remotely identify infected people and contaminated areas within a range of 100 meters through a special aerial system and internal bipolar magnetic fields.
According to an AL Monitor report, Salami claimed dozens of countries have already contacted Iran about the machine, but if the U.S. ever asked Iran to share the technology he would refuse, saying it “would not be shared with the Americans until all sanctions are removed.”
Salami unveiled the device April 15 on Iranian television. According to Salami, it can remotely detect an infected surface or individual in five seconds, as Breitbart News reported.
Scientists working under IRGC command designed the detector, which uses a magnetic field and reportedly has an accuracy rate approaching 80 percent – but only in favorable conditions.
Many critics pointed out the device replicated the fraudulent bomb detection wands, invented by a British businessman, that were used in Iraq at the height of suicide bombings.
Video evidence provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) would seem to support that theory:
In May 2017, the Iranian news agency, IRNA, aired a report about an identical-looking device that was purported to be able to detect between one liter and 1000 liters of fuel, also using magnetic fields and “bi-polar” technology.
The device was meant to help Iranian authorities combat fuel smuggling, MEMRI reports.
Despite Iran’s serious claims for the future success of the machine, not everyone is convinced.
Jokes about the device are going viral on social media with the Persian-language Twitter account of the U.S. State Department posting: “It is strange that the device always beeps when it is nearing the guards. Can you next build a device for detection of jinns?”
Len Khodrokovsky, a State Department advisor, also took to Twitter to share his scepticism about the electronic, all-magnetic coronvirus detector machine:
Closer to home an advisor to President Hassan Rouhani blasted the IRGC for making the machine public, expressing his fears such a move amounts to an “advertisment” of state capabilities.
“Do not advertise vaccines, medicine, [coronavirus] test kits or unique and innovative virus detection devices that have not been approved by the Health Ministry,” said Hesameddin Ashena, who is Rouhani’s media advisor, according to Radio Farda.
The criticism has been roundly rejected by the IRGC with spokesman Ramazan Sharif saying, “Soon, the production process, technical features and capabilities of the device will be shared with the media and experts.”
In response to the international mockery of the device, Sharif was unmoved. He said “Iranians take more pride and honor in causing the shock and anger of enemies and those who want ill for us.”
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