Domestic mismanagement and international hostility have complicated Iran\u2019s response to the coronavirus threat, fueling one of the world\u2019s most dire outbreaks.<\/p>\n
The Islamic Republic of Iran has suffered a devastating number of\u00a0fatalities from the new coronavirus<\/a>, exceeded only by those in Italy, Spain, and China. While China took draconian measures to contain the outbreak, and Italy and Spain have been transparent about the death toll in order to warn others about the dangers of complacency, Iran has done neither. Yet Iranian\u00a0universities<\/a>\u00a0and health\u00a0officials<\/a>\u00a0warn that the country could ultimately see millions of fatalities absent urgent, dramatic action.<\/p>\n The story of how the virus spread to, within, and from Iran is now well documented. When other countries began to suspend travel with China in early February, Iran did not pay\u00a0heed<\/a>, given its economic isolation and dependence on China. When cases of the coronavirus began to mushroom in Iran in mid-February, Iranian officials\u00a0admittedly<\/a>\u00a0suppressed the news in order to maintain voter\u00a0turnout<\/a>\u00a0in the country\u2019s rigged parliamentary elections. When the holy city of Qom\u2014a popular destination for Shia pilgrims throughout Iran and the Middle East\u2014was identified as an\u00a0epicenter of Iran\u2019s coronavirus outbreak<\/a>, Iranian authorities\u00a0refused to quarantine the city\u2019s mosques and shrines<\/a>\u00a0until a month later. But COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, had spread throughout Iran within days. An estimated\u00a090 percent<\/a>\u00a0of the approximately 17,000 cases throughout the Middle East are now linked to the country.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s leaders initially downplayed the dangers. \u201cCOVID-19 is not such a big tragedy and this country has overcome graver ones,\u201d\u00a0tweeted<\/a>\u00a0Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on March 3. He continued, \u201cThe prayers of the pure youth and pious are very effective in repelling major tragedies.\u201d Once the country\u2019s death toll began to mount\u2014including thirteen senior Iranian officials, among at least thirty who contracted the virus\u2014Khamenei shifted from denial to deflection. He\u00a0claimed<\/a>\u00a0there was evidence that COVID-19 may be a biological attack, ostensibly by the United States, which provided him the pretext to\u00a0appoint a Revolutionary Guard commander<\/a>, rather than a physician, to lead a newly formed \u201cHealth Command Center.\u201d Indeed, despite hopes in Washington that COVID-19 may hasten the Islamic Republic\u2019s collapse, the virus is more likely to accelerate its transition from clerical rule to military rule.<\/p>\n Iranian mismanagement has been exacerbated by U.S. sanctions that in theory don\u2019t prohibit, but in practice financially inhibit, Tehran\u2019s ability to purchase medical equipment and supplies. While Khamenei has long\u00a0lauded<\/a>\u00a0sanctions for forcing Iran to become \u201cself-reliant\u201d and recently\u00a0rejected<\/a>\u00a0the idea of U.S. financial assistance, overloaded Iranian healthcare providers have publicly\u00a0pleaded<\/a>\u00a0for basic supplies\u2014including gowns, gloves, masks, alcohol wipes, and hand sanitizers\u2014to help treat the inflicted. The combination of onerous sanctions,\u00a0plunging oil prices<\/a>, and COVID-19 forced Iran to ask the International Monetary Fund for an\u00a0emergency loan of $5 billion<\/a>\u2014its first such request since 1962. Yet, the very same week, Tehran likely sabotaged its chances of the United States and Europe acceding to such a loan when rocket\u00a0attacks<\/a>, allegedly launched by Iranian-backed militants, killed two U.S. soldiers and one British soldier in Iraq.<\/p>\n While the coronavirus outbreak could have provided Tehran and Washington an opportunity to cooperate against a common foe, the enmity and mistrust between them has proven too wide for even a deadly pandemic to bridge. Yet Washington should take no comfort in seeing Iran\u2019s population\u2014a majority of whom would welcome better relations with Washington\u2014ravaged by a virus that respects no national boundaries. At a minimum, President Donald Trump\u2019s administration should publicly announce that foreign companies and countries will face no penalties for providing Iran necessary aid, including medical equipment and supplies, to contain COVID-19. As the United States has proven, however, all the resources in the world cannot substitute for the honest, effective leadership that Tehran sorely lacks.<\/p>\n