Coronavirus: Iran veto on MSF mission

Text by: RFI Follow

Iran aroused Tuesday the "misunderstanding" of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) by refusing the deployment of a team of the humanitarian NGO, assimilated to "foreign forces" which Tehran does not want on its soil to fight the Covid-19 epidemic, which left nearly 2,000 people dead.

Publicity

“ Due to the implementation of the National Coronavirus Mobilization Plan and the full use of the medical capacities of the armed forces, it is not necessary for the moment that hospital beds be created by foreign forces. , and their presence is excluded, "said Aliréza Vahabzadeh, adviser to the Minister of Health.

Vahabzadeh made the following comments on Twitter after repeated attacks by ultra-conservatives, in the press and on social media, accusing MSF staff of being "spies" and calling on them "not to leave them enter ".

The international medical organization announced on Sunday the dispatch of a "50-bed inflatable hospital" and of "an emergency team of nine people to Isfahan" (center), the third city of Iran, with the aim of to relieve "the pressure on the local health system".

In a press release , the NGO said " its misunderstanding following the declarations of the Ministry of Health (...) announcing the cancellation of (its) intervention (...) to manage the serious cases of Covid-19 in Isfahan . "

MSF adds that the ministry's announcement comes after the landing, “Sunday and Monday evening” in Tehran, of two cargo planes containing all the necessary equipment, and the arrival of its team of 9 people in Isfahan, where it ci " has been positively received by local health authorities ".

Redeploy quickly

The organization says it is " ready to quickly redeploy its emergency team and its treatment capacities elsewhere in Iran, or to quickly transfer them to other countries in the region, where they are urgently needed to meet the needs." treatment of hospitalized patients infected with Covid-19 ”.

" In a situation where dozens of field hospitals for the Armed Forces are ready and many hospitals are empty ", MSF assistance does not meet any country's needs, said Mr Vahabzadeh in substance, for whom he There is nothing in the aid offered by MSF "which would reduce the effects of American sanctions" against Iran. Mr. Vahabzadeh nevertheless wished to thank MSF for its offer.

The Islamic Republic is one of the countries most affected by the new coronavirus pandemic, along with Italy, China and Spain.

( With AFP)

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• NGO
• Iran
• Coronavirus

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