Masoumeh Ebtekar Given Airtime on CNN
We reported on what appears to be a concentrated outbreak on the Coronavirus in Iran and noted how the Deputy Health Minister said that they had it under control.
Then he came down with it. He had been briefing other ministers and journalists the day before he tested positive.
Deputy Health Minister of #Iran Harirchi who is infected with #CoronaVirus had a joint presser along with spokesman of the government Rabiei yesterday among journalists. A footage published earlier had raised suspicion that he might had been infected with the virus. pic.twitter.com/IWKsga06SC
— Abas Aslani (@AbasAslani) February 25, 2020
There were reports later suggesting that the man who had been sitting next to him, the government spokesperson may then have come down with it.
Now there are suspicions that #Iran’s gov spox (left of picture) may have contracted #COVID19 from deputy health minister, who was sweating profusely next to him during a press briefing today & passed #Coronavirius on to industries minister (right of picture) in a meeting today. pic.twitter.com/HXIGGRf1id
— Ali Arouzi (@aliarouzi) February 25, 2020
What has been confirmed is that they have one of the highest known numbers of cases with 254 outside of China and 26 dead. Other high-ranking Iranians have now come down with it. Iranian MP Mahmoud Sadeghi reportedly has it, as we reported.
Now, Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar who appeared on CNN recently to defend Iran’s attack on American forces has come down with it.
Vice President of #Iran for Women and Family Affairs Masoumeh Ebtekar (@ebtekarm) tests positive on #CoronaVirus. She is third senior Iranian official who is infected by the virus. Iranian cleric & historian Hadi Khosroshahi has also died at 81 as a result of Corona virus. pic.twitter.com/HatKjU99Rc
— Abas Aslani (@AbasAslani) February 27, 2020
She’s also infamously known for being the spokesperson for the hostage-takers who held Americans for 444 days when they stormed the American embassy in Tehran in 1979.
Ebtekar is better known to Americans as "Mother Mary," the spokeswoman of the hostage-takers during the 444-day Iran hostage crisis. https://t.co/QKQLi7hX3R
— Holly Dagres (@hdagres) February 27, 2020
A prominent mullah who was the ambassador to the Vatican has died from it.
Prominent Iranian cleric and diplomat, Hadi Khosroshahi passed away today, one day after he was admitted to a hospital in Tehran for testing positive #Coronavirus. Khosroshahi was Iran’s ambassador to the #Vatican and later Iran’s top diplomat in #Egypt between 2001 and 2004 pic.twitter.com/vbVnmLfOMs
— Ali Hashem علي هاشم (@alihashem_tv) February 27, 2020
He was reportedly a prominent figure in the Qom seminary. Qom is considered a “holy” city but seems to have had the highest number of cases in Iran. There was a report of 50 deaths in Qom, but that was disputed by the Deputy Health Minister who got sick.
The Chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Affairs Committee, Mojtaba Zolnour, has also been diagnosed with it.
#Iran coronavirus
More officials test positive. Masoumeh Ebtekar, highest ranking female, & MP Zolnour head of parliament’s national security committee.
Yesterday Ebtekar was with Rouhani & cabinet.#كرونا https://t.co/Sn0OrkR8Bj— Farnaz Fassihi (@farnazfassihi) February 27, 2020
2/ So far six Iranian officials & prominent figures have coronavirus. One died today.
1 cabinet member; 1 deputy health minister; 2 lawmakers; 1 mayor; 1 prominent cleric & former Vatican ambassador.
Anyone else?#كرونا #Iran— Farnaz Fassihi (@farnazfassihi) February 27, 2020
Sounds like all the officials are infecting each other.
ICYMI: The #coronavirus mortality rate in a free and open South Korea is about .3%, but in authoritarian Iran, it's about 15%.
If you want to be angry, be angry at dictators more concerned with saving face and preserving their regimes than protecting human life: pic.twitter.com/hZoNd2SYEc
— John Cooper (@thejcoop) February 27, 2020
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