Iran: Shocking admission by the regime’s former Vice President 700,000 COVID-19 deaths by end of Rouhani’s administration

•The regime’s official statistics on COVID-19 fatalities at the end of Rouhani’s government were 91,785—seven and a half times lower than the reality.
•Thus, the real death toll until the end of the pandemic—that is, one year after Raisi took office—exceeded one million.
•The Iranian Resistance, with extreme caution in its daily reports and 730 statements, had announced the death toll as 530,000.
•In March 2020, Khamenei said regarding COVID-19: “For us, a calamity turns into a blessing; a threat becomes an opportunity.”
•In January 2021, Khamenei banned the import of American and British vaccines.
•Mrs. Maryam Rajavi: “Khamenei’s betrayal and great crime have been exposed. By banning vaccine imports and exploiting COVID-19 as an opportunity to block uprisings in Iran, he committed a grave crime against humanity and must be brought to justice.”

On September 20, 2025, Mohsen Mansouri, Executive Vice President in Ebrahim Raisi’s administration, stated: “In the last cabinet meeting of Mr. Rouhani and the first cabinet meeting of the martyred Raisi, the proceedings were recorded, documented, and the videos were also published. The very segment of Mr. Jahangiri’s remarks suffices to judge that period. He compares the country’s economic conditions in 2021 to wartime. He thoroughly analyzes in this video the state of social disintegration, political disorder, drought, and COVID-19 with nearly 700,000 deaths.” (Khabaronline – September 20, 2025)
However, at the end of Rouhani’s presidency, the regime’s Ministry of Health announced: “The total number of COVID-19 fatalities has reached 91,785.” (State media – August 3, 2021)
Now, the figure of 700,000 deaths, revealed by Raisi’s deputy with emphasis that it was “documented,” is more than seven and a half times the official tally at the end of Rouhani’s term in August 2021.
Remarkably, on August 3, 2022, one year after Raisi assumed office, the regime’s last officially declared number of COVID-19 victims was 142,000. This clearly shows that the real number of COVID-19 victims at the end of the pandemic altogether was more than seven and a half times the regime’s announced figures—exceeding one million people.
Since March 2020, the Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), through reports from the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) across hundreds of cities in all 31 provinces, in more than 730 statements without a single day’s break, announced on April 8, 2022, with utmost caution, that the real number of victims was over 530,000. It is now evident that the actual figure was nearly twice that, for which we owe our compatriots an apology.
Let us recall that on March 3, 2020, Khamenei shamelessly described COVID-19 as an opportunity, saying: “In our view, this calamity is not such a great disaster. There have been and are greater calamities. We ourselves have witnessed some in this country… It is a passing matter… This can be a gain. If we can achieve those gains, calamity will turn into blessing; threat will turn into opportunity.”
On January 8, 2021, Khamenei declared: “The import of American and British vaccines is forbidden.”
On the same day, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi said: “Khamenei, the criminal, banned the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines—a crime against humanity. He is responsible for the slaughter of thousands of deprived and oppressed compatriots in the COVID-19 slaughterhouse. The international community must strongly condemn this crime and compel the regime to remove obstacles to vaccine imports.”
Today, following the admission of the regime’s former vice president, Mrs. Rajavi stated: “Khamenei’s betrayal and great crime have been exposed. By banning vaccine imports and exploiting COVID-19 as an opportunity to block uprisings in Iran, he committed a grave crime against humanity and must be brought to justice—alongside the mass executions and killings of protesters in the uprisings of 2022, 2019, 2017, and 2009.”
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
21 September 2025