The Spokeswoman of the U.S. Department of State Morgan Ortagus has strongly refuted Khamenei's repetition of allegations that the United States created the Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) which she referred to as the "Wuhan Virus".
On March 23 in a speech broadcast live to the nation, Khamenei turned down the United States' offer of help in dealing with the coronavirus epidemic in Iran including sending medicines to fight the outbreak. "Use what you have for your own patients," he told the United States
Khamenei also said Iran could not trust the United States because they could be giving medicines that "spread the virus or cause it to remain" and alleged that a section of the virus was created to match the genes of Iranians.
In a tweet on March 24, Morgan Ortagus quoted a tweet from Khamenei's account to the same effect and said the "conspiracy theories about the Wuhan Virus" by Khamenei are harmful, irresponsible, and 100 percent false. Ortegus also charged that if Khamenei were a true leader, he would return "the billions in his tax-free hedge fund" back to the Iranian people to deal with the virus outbreak.
In early March some Chinese media and officials including a Foreign Ministry Spokesman had pushed the theory that coronavirus was an American disease introduced to China by visiting members of the U.S. Army in Wuhan.
The theory has been disowned by top officials including the Chinese ambassador to Washington who said it was "crazy" to spread rumors about the deadly virus originating from a military lab in the United States.
The United States strongly reacted to the allegation and President Donald Trump himself is now referring to the virus as the "Chinese Virus".
On the basis of the many similarities including the genetic structure of the virus responsible for the new illness which is very similar to the virus causing the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), most scientific bodies and organization are now referring to the new virus from the coronavirus family as SARS-CoV-2. The illness itself is referred to as Covid-19.