Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — Iran reported 89 new coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities in the country to 4,958 on Friday, news reports said quoting a statement from a health ministry official.

The total number of infections reached 79,494, of which 3,563 were said to be in critical condition, the report added.

Facing mounting criticism of cover-ups over coronavirus infections and deaths in the country, Iran earlier this week admitted in a parliamentary report that the coronavirus death toll might be almost double the figures announced by the health ministry, and the number of infections eight to 10 times more.

But the the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a broad coalition of democratic Iranian organizations and personalities, has refuted all claims with regard to the spread of the deadly virus in the Islamic Republic in a press statement released on Thursday.

Citing data compiled by one of its affiliates, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), operating inside Iran, the NCRI claimed that coronavirus death toll has surpassed the figure of 30,000 in 294 cities. The number of victims in Tehran province is 4,970, Qom 2,810, Isfahan 2,145, Mazandaran 1,910, Alborz 1,135, Golestan 1,050, East Azerbaijan 950, Kermanshah 845, Fars 790, Hamedan 750, Kurdistan 490, Central Province 490, Zanjan 450, Khorasan North 315, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari 276, Ilam 250, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad 170, and South Khorasan 105.

The NCRI said that Iranian clerical regime has taken unprecedented measures to cover up the coronavirus staggering fatalities because it is terrified of popular outrage and uprisings. According to the Intelligence Ministry's directive, the internal portal for the country's Civil Registration has been shut down to prevent the information about the death toll from leaking.

Tehran Civil Registration, which publishes a monthly table and causes of deaths in the province, did not publish this table for March 2020, it claimed.