US main factor behind biological warfare, coronavirus cover-up: Iran official

The special advisor to Iran's parliament speaker in international affairs has reacted to Bahrain’s accusations that the Islamic Republic is “covering up the spread of the new coronavirus,” saying the US, which is actually ruling Bahrain, is the main culprit in launching biological warfare and covering up the coronavirus spread in the United States.

News ID: 449566

Date: 13 March 2020 - 10:47

RNA - Taking to his twitter account on Thursday, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian pointed to accusations leveled against Iran by Bahrain’s interior minister, who claimed Iran is spreading coronavirus and launching biological warfare across region.

The Bahraini minister, General Sheikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifah, had earlier in the day accused Iran of "biological aggression" in a tweet, alleging, "With this behavior, Iran has allowed the disease to travel abroad.”

Iran has deplored any attempt at using the outbreak as a means of drawing political advantage, and denounced certain countries for trying to associate their virus-related problems to alleged overseas sources.

The Islamic Republic has repeatedly declared its strict adherence to transparency concerning the extent of the outbreak within its borders, and urged all against concealing the number of their virus-afflicted deaths and infections under political considerations.

On Wednesday, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Iran is doing its best in fight against the novel coronavirus despite a lack of sufficient equipment and facilities mainly caused by the US sanctions.

"We know that Iran is doing its best, all it can ... that's what I appreciated," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference at the organization’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

Bahrain, a key regional ally of the United States that houses the American Navy's Fifth Fleet, has been praising the US campaign of “maximum pressure” against Iran and trying to align its own policies concerning the Islamic Republic with those of Washington.

Tehran has, however, denounced such efforts on the part of Manama as a push by the latter to direct attention away from its domestic problems.

The Bahraini regime has been facing a popular uprising since 2011 against its gravely discriminatory policies towards the kingdom’s Shia Muslim-majority population.

The regime has come down hard on the rallies, killing scores of people and jailing hundreds of others. It has annulled its major Shia bodies, and stripped many of their citizenship during the campaign.

Iran has routinely condemned Bahrain’s crackdown on the peaceful protests, and urged the kingdom to start hearing the voices of its people instead of violently suppressing the protests.

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