Iran's IRGC Terrorists: 'We Can Help Americans Fight Coronavirus'

Iran is capable of helping the American people fight the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, but the Islamic Republic does not require any assistance from the United States, according to statements by Major General Hossein Salami, head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on Thursday.

The IRGC is a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. Iran is considered the nation most devastated by the global Chinese coronavirus outbreak and, if dissident estimates on the number of dead are true, the nation with the world’s largest death toll.

Salami’s remarks come in reaction to recent announcements by U.S. officials, including President Donald Trump, that Washington was ready to provide assistance to Tehran in fighting the Chinese coronavirus outbreak.

“When Americans say they want to help the Iranian nation under these conditions, it is nothing but demagogy. They are themselves plagued by this virus outbreak and their healthcare infrastructure cannot protect the American people against this phenomenon. If the American nation needs help, we can render assistance to them, but we do not need their help,” said Salami.

As evidence of Iran’s capability to “render assistance” to America, Salami noted what he claimed was IRGC’s early response to the Chinese coronavirus at the onset of its emergence in Qom, the epicenter of Iran’s novel coronavirus outbreak. This claim directly contradicts expert opinion that Iran delayed its initial response to the Chinese coronavirus because it was reluctant to break ties with China, its close economic and political ally.

Salami further cited the early organization of up to ten mobile and field hospitals in areas reporting a high number of infections across the country as an example of Iran’s preparedness. He claimed the IRGC stood ready to build more makeshift hospitals if necessary. More recently, Salami said the IRGC had begun holding what he referred to as “biological defense drills” and national disinfection operations.

Iran has denounced offers of assistance from the U.S. as hypocritical, claiming that if America genuinely sought to help the country with its Chinese coronavirus outbreak, it would lift its sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said Iran would not accept Chinese coronavirus assistance from the United States, claiming it might be “poison” disguised as aid. “Possibly your (offered) medicine is a way to spread the virus more,” Khamenei said on Sunday. “Or if you send therapists and doctors, maybe he wants to see the effect of the poison, since it is said that part of the virus is built for Iran.”

This paranoia has seen Iran turn down Chinese coronavirus aid from other sources as well. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) expressed “incomprehension” and “deep surprise” at Iran’s recent rejection of its medical aid on Wednesday.

In his comments on Sunday, Khamenei called America’s offer to help Iran strange, promoting a conspiracy theory that the U.S. may have manufactured the Chinese coronavirus as a biological weapon.

“Americans have said several times that ‘we are ready to help with treatment and medicine; just ask us and we will help.’ This is one of the weirdest things which they tell us to ask them. You are accused of producing the virus. I do not know how true this accusation is, but when such an accusation is made, which wise person will ask for your help?” Khamenei said.

Reports Friday indicate hundreds of people have died after drinking a poison “cure” for the Chinese coronavirus promoted by Iranians on social media. Fake remedies for the Chinese coronavirus have circulated across social media in Iran, where people remain deeply suspicious of the government after it obfuscated the health crisis at its outset. Iran’s own local health authorities question the regime’s official Chinese coronavirus data. Iran has been accused of severely underreporting its numbers on the Chinese coronavirus.

At press time Friday, Iran claimed to have 32,332 infections and 2,378 deaths from the Chinese coronavirus. However, the real number of Chinese coronavirus cases in Iran remains unknown, and the figures provided by state media are viewed with severe skepticism by most health officials. Iran’s government has been criticized for lying about the country’s actual numbers of coronavirus deaths. Regional Iranian officials have reported higher rates in their own regions than those reported by the Health Ministry, publicly questioning the state statistics.