Situation seems to have been stabilised for now - what I mean is that we are at the peak of the 2nd wave. With no change, we should be heading down gradually. Having said that, Ashura/Moharram religious ceremonies looming and can make it even worse.
[Current Outlook/2]
A couple of numbers I follow show signs of stabilisation:
- daily admissions in Tehran (now mid 500 vs highs of +700)
- Current admitted COVID patients in Qom (hovering at peak of ~360)
- Patients in critical condition (~4K with peaks of 4163 a few days ago)
[Current Outlook/3]
So all in all, Iran has let the virus loose letting it do all the damage. The result is an official average of 20-25% infection rate across the country and many dead including the precious medical staff.
Yet Ashura ceremonies can do even more harm.
[Current Outlook/end]
The religious officials are planning to go full on with Ashura albeit asking for public observance of social distancing. President Rouhani said yesterday "People will be sad if they dont hold the ceremonies".
Well, better sad than dead - me thinks.
Central province of Yazd (1.1M) is going into a limited lockdown. It has been in red for a couple of weeks now. Even some officials said they probably will not hold Ashura festivals. [People of Yazd are known for their level-headedness]
#important As I reported on the day, although probably not a news to the esteemed readers of these threads, a member of the COVID Taskforce in an interview confirmed:
- numbers are "cooked"
- possibly 1/20 of total
- guided by security and IRGC
As I said, the authorities were reporting a downtrend of number of deaths over the last week to legitimise holding the religious ceremonies but since that report, numbers have gone back up.
Ground reports only shows the situation at least as bad.
In fact Dr. Mohraz, Iran's most prominent Infectious Diseased specialist, confirmed that the current wave is way worse than the 1st and everyone in the COVID Taskforce are up against holding the religious ceremonies.
Being part of the medical staff, risking your life looking after COVID patients, least you expect is to be paid. Not for these nurses in Urmia protesting in front of City Council or many others - as reported before.
Stay safe and good night.
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It then, however, turned out to be the work of Islamic Republic's own intelligence ministry. They finally accepted that an "autonomous cell" within the ministry led by Saied Emami had gone rogue and planned and executed the attack.
With that in the back of Iranian minds, terrorist attack on Shah Cheragh shrine in Shiraz was immediately dismissed as the work of the Islamic Republic itself, especially considering the timing (protests).
But it is undeniable that ISIS has claimed responsibility and released 👇
Today, dozens of cities around the world will witness human chains of Iranians extending for miles.
This has been planned for London too, sadly I do not feel well enough to go.
After weeks and weeks of reactive handling of the protests in the hope of them fizzling out, today the regime is planning to use today's burial procession of Shiraz terrorist attack victims to take the initiative back again.
IRGC Commander again declared the end of protests.
As you can see from the images above, even for a neutral event where everyone would condemn such cowardly terrorist attack (and I do too), the regime failed to bring masses to the street.
Believe me I chose busiest pics, check them for yourself.
#BREAKING The country is in turmoil and it feels like the regime is losing the grip - which is not necessarily good news since this might mean we enter a military phase.
People are reported to be in control of Town of Mahabad in Kurdistan
Funny thing is that taghvim.com website used commonly by Iranians says today is 30th of Rabi al-Awwal. All other calendars say today is 1st of Rabi-ali-Thaani.
It cannot be ISIS!
My Arab followers, can you please tell me what day it is according to Hijri calendar?
Some calendars I found say 28th, some 29th, some 1st ...
#IranProtests2022 5th week of incessant protests (29th day) starting today with reports of ongoing protests in Karaj, Rashst, Hamedan and Shahinshahr.
It is 1:30 PM local time.
This is students today in Sanandaj.
In Ardabil where a high school student was allegedly beaten to death (we have not yet been able to confirm or disprove) protesters have clashed with the security forces.