Iran’s Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, has now refused U.S. help to fight the virus. So far, he has been dismissing the seriousness of the virus, declaring that it will easily be overcome through a “health jihad.” Meanwhile, Shia clerics continue to pressure Khamenei to leave open the nation’s holiest shrines. Some faithful followers of Islam have been licking shrines to “cleanse” them of coronavirus in efforts to save other believers. And now, in another display of lunacy, Khamenei is claiming that the coronavirus is “specifically built for Iran using the genetic data of Iranians.” Previously he was blaming Israel and the U.S. for it, but this takes his conspiracy paranoia to a new level.
“Iran leader refuses U.S. help, citing virus conspiracy theory,” Associated Press, March 22, 2020:
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s supreme leader refused U.S. assistance Sunday to fight the new coronavirus, citing an unfounded conspiracy theory that the virus could be man-made by America.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s comments come as Iran faces crushing U.S. sanctions blocking the country from selling its crude oil and accessing international financial markets.
But while Iranian civilian officials in recent days have increasingly criticized those sanctions, 80-year-old Khamenei instead chose to traffic in the same conspiracy theory increasingly used by Chinese officials about the new virus to deflect blame for the pandemic.
“I do not know how real this accusation is but when it exists, who in their right mind would trust you to bring them medication?” Khamenei said. “Possibly your medicine is a way to spread the virus more.”
He also alleged without offering any evidence that the virus “is specifically built for Iran using the genetic data of Iranians which they have obtained through different means.”
“You might send people as doctors and therapists, maybe they would want to come here and see the effect of the poison they have produced in person,” he said.
There is no scientific proof offered anywhere in the world to support Khamenei’s comments.
However, his comments come after Chinese government spokesman Lijian Zhao tweeted earlier this month that it “might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe(s) us an explanation!”…