A renowned Iranian dissident and former Islamic revolutionary has lambasted Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for describing the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus as "biological warfare."
In a statement published March 26 on an anti-Khamenei website, Abolfazl Qadyani (Ghadiani), a former advocate of the Islamic Republic has referred to the "Supreme Leader" as "Iran's current tyrant," whose comments are an insult to the wisdom of Iranians.
While rejecting Washington's offer to help Iran fight the novel coronavirus, Khamenei on March 22 implicitly accused the United States of "bioengineering" the deadly virus.
In a televised speech Khamenei said that the U.S. was accused of having created the coronavirus, and there are clues to this accusation.
Khamenei went even further, claiming that the novel coronavirus was produced to target Iranians, "There are reports that a strain of the virus has been created to target the Iranian genome and people as part of the hostility that the U.S. and the West show towards the Iranian nation."
Blasting his former mentor, Qadyani dismissed Khamenei's remarks as a "projection" to "deceive public opinion," strike a blow at Iran and cover up his own mismanagement and inefficiency.
"Common sense cannot accept such baseless remarks," Qadyani has affirmed, adding, "Only sick minds dominated by illusive conspiracy theories might embrace such statements."
In the meantime, Qadyani has also criticized President Donald Trump for imposing "inhumane" and "ruthless" sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Under the sanctions, Qadyani has argued, Khamenei contemplates on nothing but retaining power, strengthening his position and keeping his false dignity among his followers.
"If Khamenei valued the people's lives, he would have placed the city of Qom under quarantine," the 75-year-old former advocate of clerical rule has noted.
The city of Qom, the world's largest center of Shiite seminaries, was the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Iran.
Nevertheless, the Islamic Republic authorities have so far vehemently opposed placing the city under quarantine.
President Hassan Rouhani has dismissed plans to quarantine any city as an "anti-Islamic Revolution" plot.
"The anti-revolutionary forces have conspired to shut down economic activities during the Novel coronavirus outbreak and to bring the country to a standstill," Rouhani maintained, adding, "to challenge the plot, the normal procedure of production should continue."
Qadyani, who is renowned for not mincing his words, has also slammed Khamenei and Rouhani for rejecting Washington's offer to help Iran fight the epidemic.
He has also admonished the authorities for expelling a team of the Paris-based Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) or Doctors Without Borders.
On March 22, MSF had sent a consignment of medical aid to Iran, including one inflatable field hospital, medicines, respiratory masks, and protective clothing.
Khamenei’s hardliner followers quickly accused the MSF and its personnel of being "French spies" on social media and in the Iranian press. This followed remarks by Khamenei, on March 22, that supernatural beings were conspiring with "enemies" to attack the Iranian people.
"We are deeply surprised to learn that the approval for the deployment of our treatment unit has been revoked," said Michel Olivier Lacharité, manager of the MSF Emergency programs in Paris. "The need for this intervention, and the authorizations needed to start it, were discussed and agreed with relevant Iranian authorities during the past weeks. Our teams were ready to start medical activities at the end of this week."
It is Iranians' right to have access to the international aid, Qadyani has averred in his statement, reminding, "Khamenei is not a representative of the Iranian nation, and he has no right whatsoever to accept or reject international aid offers. He is not elected by the people of Iran, and perfectly knows that he has no popularity among most Iranians."
