Authors: Mojtaba Valibeigi and Elmira Sarhangi*
Within ten days ahead of the official announcement of the first COVID_19 virus disease (COVID_19) in Qom, many discussions in social media raised about the arrival of COVID_19 in Iran, but the official health authorities firmly denied the news. They attributed it to the enemy and creating fear in society for decreasing participation in Anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and 2020 Iranian legislative elections and asked people to follow the news from the official news and bases. Propaganda was made and COVID_19 has become a keyword for enemies.
For the first time on Wednesday February 19, 2020, the official news of the arrival of COVID_19 in Iran coincided with the announcement of the death of two inhabitants of Qom by president of Qom University of Medical Sciences. A day earlier, the public relations of the same Qom University of Medical Sciences released a statement and confidently denied the news of the death of two patients with respiratory complications by COVID_19. The interval of these two pieces of news release was less than 20 hours. While the expression of the first statement was very definitive, but 20 hours later, the head of the university declared: “Peak respiratory diseases within the last three days” has caused the possibility of having COVID_19 to be investigated.
The first official report of the COVID_19 about the death of two patients in Iran lasted a few hours, and on March 2, Iran allocated the highest victims after China. Also, distance between reports of the incidence of this disease and deaths of people in other countries show a lot more time (for example, Hong Kong 13 days, Italy 21 days and South Korea 29 days). By the day of March 9, Canada, Lebanon, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq, Oman, Pakistan, Georgia, China, Estonia, New Zealand, Belarus, Britain and Azerbaijan have identified people with the COVID_19, who have come from Iran. The statistics which had presented, have provoked many questions. If COVID_19 has long been already an outbreak in Iran. was the Anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and 2020 Iranian legislative election the reason behind the fact that regime deliberately declined to announce the COVID-19?Are the announced statistics of patients and victims transparent and correct? Why in dealing with an epidemic (a pandemic) disease, government adopted a strict security policy?
The people in Tehran survey shows common hints apart from their different behaviors in dealing with the COVID-19 disease including: Declaring false statistics, the number of patients is much higher and COVID-19 was earlier than what has been officially announced.
For example, 37_year_old Ramin, a bank employee, while has wearing a face mask and gloves when speaking about COVID_19 expressing his anger and upset, said: “when you live in a country, an authority said confidently something and tomorrow would say the opposite. What you think. It is clear. Always repeats a text. The virus would not have been spread if it had been announced earlier and they had given the right information. They didn’t take it seriously.”
Sarah is a 22_year_old computer student while she had no face mask, says: there is no way! All they know is slogans, not human health! why a disease should be hidden! Why Everything in our society should be hidden. There is no trust left.
Elderly men and women say: They should have announced it earlier, the death rate is much higher, but they don’t tell the truth.
45 years old Javad who works in the market while laughing says: No matter when we die, we will go whenever God wills but Islamic Governance is the means!
Antagonist’s role in Iran’s crisis
Before and after COVID_19 was officially announced, the propaganda of the government was the same, advertising war and martyrdom project. A forever necessary response that crises are related to the enemy not to decisions. It seems a common keyword of all crises! This term has also been raised by Supreme Leader, Religious and Appointed Officials, government officials from the president to the officials of Ministry of Health and Medical Education and The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). for example, we can refer to a part of the 20:30 news report, “Corona panic …” on Feb. 26th. The report says Corona is a code name for overseas media outlets to spread Corona phobia and to bring about unsolidarity in Iran. It aired the day before the first death was announced. It seemed governance structure is really looking for a conspiracy theory and enemy footprints and this is a key factor in their decisions. And in this situation, efficiency and transparency give way to security issues. From Feb. 19, 2020, the Islamic Republic of Iran acknowledged that there was a COVID_19, and by February 22, when the government announced that the coronavirus was outbreaking, how to deal with it can be called a propaganda of advertising war and secrecy.
In all layers of the Iranian Government, before acknowledging it was called as “COVID_19 Panic project” and after that “the sympathy mask of the enemies”. The propaganda known as advertising war, is an identical keyword that has always been heard in all natural crises such as earthquakes, floods, human crises, etc. in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This keyword would be found in all kinds of the crises during the 40 years, and the enemy has always tried to sign the inefficiency of the system, and we should not let the enemy get happy.
“The COVID_19 virus is our enemy effort to reduce the participation in 2020 Iranian legislative election” said Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran. And “it is the political propaganda of the enemy” and after outbreaking, “it is the sympathy mask of the enemies” said President Hassan Rouhani. “
” How much they worked against people’s participation in the elections…. In the end, the disease [Covid_19] was a good excuse. On Thursday night, the night before the election, the news of this virus and the disease was heard in Qom, for instance, [Enemy] started advertising at dawn on Thursday that ‘don’t go to the polls; never stand in the line of voting …., there is a disease, there is a virus, let’s see. That means, they used the least opportunity, and they didn’t let it waste even a few hours; immediately they began to say and permanently emphasized” Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, on the first official comment after the 2020 Iranian legislative election.
In this speech in Qom, Ali Khamenei said that the disease was a “good excuse,” and then pointed out that the enemy was going to reduce the participation in the election by exploiting the opportunity. He accused the opponents of the Islamic system of exploiting COVID_19’s virus opportunity and bringing down the participation of the people.
Ali Khamenei, in particular, pointed to the city of Qom and said the city was one of the densest election constituencies. And the participation in parliamentary elections in Qom was a 43percentturnout of voters. At the same time, Qom was the center for the outbreak of COVID_19 virus in Iran. Regardless of the main problem and the daily crisis of the people namely Covid_19 outbreak, he sought to extract the intended meaning from another crisis namely the nation’s commitment to the Islamic system. COVID_19 virus is important but after expressing Islamic commitment.
On the contrary, he said with a cheerful look: “The people of Qom went to the polls with no concern for the Corona virus and thanked them.
On the other hands, there were the chief custodian and trustee actions of Fatima Masumeh Shrine in Qom which took a different path in the face of the Corona crisis.They did not give much credit to the provincial Security Council approvals and the Ministry of Health and Medical Education instructions. Ayatollah Saeedi, asthe chief custodian of the shrine and Qom Imam of Friday Prayerand Khamenei’s representative, dismissed the Ministry of Health and Medical Education ‘s concerns as irrelevant and he cited Corona as political issue and enemy conspiracy to make Qom unsafe and he pointed out that the enemy will take that wish to the grave. As a result of this opposition, despite the closure of schools and universities in Qom, the shrine of Fatima Masume has the largest community center and public space of the city, remained open. Eventually this led to declaring because of opposition of the provincial Security Council and Crisis Management Headquarters, the shrine has not been closed.
Creating Ambiguity as a Task and Institutional Alignment
If we assume a powerful political, military or security entity for any reason has felt that COVID-19 outbreaking should not be made public at this time, or at least with delayed release. So what is the duty of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education? Maybe officially a tool to serve such a purpose that’s mean a participation in secrecy and sometimes inaccurate disclosure or at least it should be part of the strategy of ambiguity as the official reference in the COVID_19. It should be a tool to implement this task in a professional and international manner to be more believable for the audience. It seems that there is a structural work division between all governmental entities when dealing with crises in order to obscure the information and then remove from the people`s mind.
In general, what is the inherent nature of such institutions of the republic in Islamic system? Given the crisis or the system needs, it is the channel for the implementation of the demands of the Islamic system and move on the path of Islamic structure and it becomes an indispensable, inseparable, indivisible and legitimizing part of it.
And such citizenship rights are defined under the banner of the Islamic system. A clear, unambiguous and consistent definition. In other words, there are no parallel structures in the Islamic Republic but republic structures have the task of adapting to the Islamic system. And, if necessary, act as a tool for Islamic revolutionary demands and play the role of catalyst for such powerful upstream and religious entities under institutions of the republic. Accordingly, there is a particular behavioral framework in dealing with various crises and political events where propaganda and the creation of ambiguity in reality fully comprehensive and systematic manner plays a key role for restoring normality and Stability of Islamic governance structure. And institutions of the republic are considered one of its executive arms and collective values are of secondary importance and the status and value of the people are measured by the expediency of the Islamic system. Where republican system and communal values come from the help of the Islamic system and depending on the circumstances, it will be used for excellent Islamic revolutionary purposes and will respond to crises and this is how the top_down institutional alignment and not parallel, is formed.
*Regional Planning Department, Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
