Corona virus ... a new weapon to win political battles

While most countries of the world are fighting medical battles against the new Corona (Covid-19), political battles are taking place between a number of countries that derive their momentum from the deadly virus, and they represent a link in an ongoing conflict between those countries.

On Wednesday evening, the World Health Organization classified the "pandemic", a scientific term more severe and extensive than the "global epidemic", symbolizing the international spread of the virus and not confining it in one country.

It stated that the virus infected 118,000 in 115 countries, the last of which was Cuba, and caused the death of 4219 others, pointing out that 80 countries had not recorded any infections.

Saudi Arabia and Iran
One of Corona's battles has been going on between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and they have been fighting for years for a regional struggle for influence in many Arab countries, including Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq, according to observers.

On Wednesday, the Iranian Ministry of Health announced that the number of virus deaths in Iran has increased to 354, in addition to nine thousand infections.

A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Abbas Mousavi, denied the authenticity of Saudi Arabia's talk about not stamping travel documents for Saudi citizens returning from Iran to the Kingdom.

And Riyadh, which recorded 21 cases as of Wednesday, considered this behavior by Tehran "evidence of Iran's responsibility to increase the global spread of the virus."

Moussaoui said, "This issue has nothing to do with specific citizens or with the subject of Corona, and we recommend Saudi Arabia to refrain from politicizing Corona's disease and spreading incorrect news."

The Iranian opposition abroad also uses the Corona weapon in its struggle against the ruling regime.

On Wednesday, the Iranian National Resistance Council secretariat accused the regime of delaying declaring a state of emergency in Al-Barz province (north), which raised the number of deaths to 120.

Accusations of Hezbollah
Since Lebanon recorded its first injury on February 22, a woman coming from Iran, accusations have been mounting for the Lebanese pro-Iranian Hezbollah Hezbollah, politicizing Corona in favor of both Iran and Syria, by pressuring the Lebanese government.

Lebanon has continued to receive flights from countries where the virus has spread, such as Iran and Italy, in addition to entering buses from Syria, despite the announcement of the Lebanese Ministry of Public Works and Transport to stop air, land and sea transportation for people coming from countries experiencing an outbreak of the virus.

Luqman Saleem, a Lebanese writer and political analyst, told Anatolia a few days ago that "politicizing Corona in defense of Iran's image is an additional guilt recorded by Hezbollah on its own who is indifferent to its people and to the Lebanese in general."

While Faisal Abdul Sater, a journalist close to Hezbollah, told Anatolia, "The party has not pressed the government not to stop shipping traffic with Iran or to not close the land borders with Syria."

Abdul Sater added, "There is no logic to what is rumored in this regard, and it can only be placed in the field of creating excitations, especially since there is a government that takes the measures it deems appropriate."

Russia and the United States
On February 23, Moscow denied news on social media of the outbreak in Russia.

Whereas, US officials said that accounts linked to Russia on the communication sites made false allegations that Washington had spread the virus.

This was denied by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, saying, "This is a false and deliberate story."

Israel and Venezuela
Two days ago, the outgoing Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, called on all parties to take responsibility in light of the outbreak of the virus and enter into a government coalition with him, to avoid heading to a fourth early election.

This was seen by critics of "politicization" of Netanyahu for the virus, in an attempt to pressure the parties to form a long-awaited government, in light of a political crisis that has rocked Israel for nearly a year, due to the inability to mobilize a majority that was able to form a government.

While Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called on Wednesday against the opposition to stop politicizing the situation regarding the virus, saying, "Do not politicize a sensitive topic for all of humanity."

Egyptian Saudi warnings
In Egypt, the authorities have warned of court trials and penalties for all those seeking to politicize the virus, with rumors increasing about it.

On Wednesday, the Media Center of the Egyptian Cabinet announced the allocation of two telephone numbers to report any rumors related to the virus or others, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The Egyptian authorities said that they will take all legal measures, in coordination with the relevant authorities, against everyone who broadcasts news, false statements or rumors related to the virus, with the aim of disturbing public security or harming the public interest.

Egyptian opponents abroad accuse the system of hiding information about people living with the virus, while the government has said in several statements that it is impossible to hide information, and that it depends on transparency.

Al-Masry newspaper on Wednesday quoted unnamed security sources as saying that the security services arrested three people on suspicion of "promoting rumors on social media, during which they covered false news about cases of coronavirus infection in Egypt, contrary to the truth."

In Saudi Arabia, the public prosecutor warned this March 3 against prejudice to public order, by spreading anonymous news, which is causing fear to society, warning that this is subject to punitive accountability.

The Saudi newspaper Okaz said at the time that the prosecution’s warning “coincided with the resort of some accounts on social media to broadcasting rumors and false news, especially with regard to the infection of the new Corona virus.”

The spread of the virus, which first appeared in China at the end of last December, led to the suspension of Umrah and flights, and the postponement or cancellation of sports, political, economic and religious activities around the world, amid accelerated efforts to contain it, in light of the state of terror in the world.