Coronavirus: Iranian public lose trust in government as crisis deepens

Public trust in Iranian officials over the containment of coronavirus is faltering as panic, disarray and questions over who and what to believe are increasing Iran has become the epicentre for the virus in the region, outside of mainland China, where the epidemic started. Tehran has more than 3,500 confirmed cases with a death toll of 107. Saeed Namaki, the minister of health and medical education, said on Thursday that the country is encouraging the public to reduce its use of paper money. It will also limit travel between cities. But due to the rapid rise in the number of cases, the public feels the government hasn't got to grips with the crisis which has fueled concerns among residents, Javid, a retired accountant told The National . He declined to be identified by his full name because of the sensitivity of speaking with foreign media. “You can sense the fear of death on the streets of major cities as no state policy to combat this crisis has been put in place,” Javid said. “Some companies have decided to close down until Nowruz, the Persian New Year. People have mixed feelings about how to celebrate it amid the crisis,” said retired accountant Javed. Businesses have been hit very badly, especially in the capital, Darian, a lawyer living in Tehran, told The National . “The streets are quiet even though it’s close to Nowruz which is usually unheard of. We are scared but we can also see that doctors are working hard to contain the virus,” Darian said. Iran has the capacity to control and prevent the spread of the virus but authorities were too late in responding to it, he said. “The rise in the number of cases is astonishing and we don’t trust what the authorities say,” Darian said. Although flights were halted, schools are shut and religious shrines have been disinfected, Iranian citizens are losing faith in their government. The decline of public hope was damaged after security forces shot down a Ukrainian flight last month, killing all 176 people on board. The government initially denied responsibility for the death. It triggered widespread public protests and anger. A homemaker in Tehran, who did not want to be named, told The National she did not believe the official version of events. “Sadly the fake news by national broadcasting channels about the real number of deaths and those in isolation adds to the people's frustrations,” she said. The country lacks leadership, she said, adding that President Hassan Rouhani has become beholden to the system. Mr Rouhani is “the last source the Iranians can turn to for help,” she said. Iranian authorities failed to take early warnings seriously and were simply to slow to react properly, Adnan Tabatabai, Iran analyst and CEO of Germany based think tank CARPO told The National. “This is not the first time - and won't be the last time - the state handles a crisis with very poor crisis management at the beginning,” Mr Tabatabi said. The crisis deepened due to the “lack of managerial skills and administrative capacities rather than with the intention to hide what is going on,” he said. But Mr Tabatabai, who just returned from a trip to Iran, said the public had adjusted quickly to the measures taken by the government. "Immediately, billboards were put up across the city demanding people regularly wash their hands, use sanitisers, avoid gatherings, refrain from using public transport and cover their mouth properly when they sneeze or cough," he said. In restaurants, waiters were told to serve with gloves and masks on. "People stopped shaking hands or hug and kiss when meeting each other. In other words: the news broke too late, but once it broke immediate measures in people's everyday lives were adopted," he said. Mr Tabatabai said the public must do everything they can to adhere to the advice given to them by experts who appear on Iranian television to stop the spread of the virus. But the severe lack of transparency about the number of cases and rates of mortality in Iran, combined with the regime's desire to show it is in control of the situation, has limited the effectiveness of medical treatments, Samuel Ramani, a Middle East analyst at the University of Oxford, told The National . "The government has refused to bow to pressure from the US and international community to be more open about the virus's spread, but has instead blamed sanctions from the US for its diffusion," Mr Ramani said.

Coronavirus: Iranian public lose trust in government as crisis deepens

Concern is high as residents feel authorities have not contained the virus