JUDY WOODRUFF: As the coronavirus spreads
globally, few places have been as hard-hit
as Iran.
Twenty-three members of the Parliament are
sick. The director of emergency services is
infected. And a third Iranian government official
died from the virus today.
Special correspondent Reza Sayah tells us
from Tehran how the country is handling it,
and whom they blame for their travails.
REZA SAYAH: At a popular gym in the heart
of Tehran, workout music blares, but the weight
room is nearly empty.
MUSTAFA, Gym Manager (through translator):
People are a little scared. Attendance has
definitely dropped. We have seen at least
a 50 percent drop.
REZA SAYAH: On Tehran's Iran's usually bustling
streets, the bumper-to-bumper traffic has
suddenly vanished.
Everywhere you look, surgical masks and reminders
of personal hygiene. At offices throughout
the capital, desk after desk empty.
MEHRAB KABOLI, Mechanical Engineer (through
translator): Tehran is frozen. It's like we're
stunned.
REZA SAYAH: What stunned this megacity and
much of Iran is the coronavirus. The outbreak
hit here two weeks ago. The numbers of people
infected and the death toll have climbed ever
since.
Today, Iran is one of the global epicenters
of the virus. Iran's Ministry of Health confirms
more than 2,300 cases in all but four of Iran's
30 provinces. The death toll remains the highest
outside of China.
Everywhere you look, people are trying to
figure out how to contain the virus.
All right, we're entering maybe the most posh
shopping center here in Tehran. And, as you
can see, you have volunteers taking everyone's
temperature here in their indoor parking complex.
So, my temperature reading is 35.5. Centigrade,
which is normal.
Up until a few weeks ago, Mohammad Reza Vakiyan
was a parking toll collector here at the Palladium
Shopping Center. Never did he think he'd be
wearing a lab coat and taking temperatures.
MOHAMMAD REZA VAKIYAN, Shopping Mall Employee
(through translator): Hopefully, this will
soon past, and no one else faces any problems.
FAEZEH KHORASANI, English Teacher: I sometimes
even have nightmares about corona.
REZA SAYAH: Faezeh Khorasani is an English
teacher.
FAEZEH KHORASANI: Welcome to the class. Happy
to see you.
REZA SAYAH: She teaches her students online
from home these days, because, like the rest
of Tehran's schools, hers is shut down.
FAEZEH KHORASANI: I feel a bit worried, and
I can say scared. You came here, you put the
key chains on the counter. I was thinking,
oh, my God, I should remember to disinfect
that.
REZA SAYAH: Amir Parvandar doesn't have much
trust either. He's looking for protective
masks for his family, but he can't find a
pharmacy that has them in stock.
AMIR PARVANDAR, Retiree (through translator):
This is the result of the chronic weakness
of the management of our country.
Unfortunately, when officials come and speak
on television, it seems as if everything is
great, but that's not the case. When you lose
people's trust, even when you tell the truth,
people won't believe you.
REZA SAYAH: Many here wanted to believe Iran's
deputy health minister when he appeared on
television. In a heavy sweat, he said the
outbreak was under control. One day later,
he was diagnosed with coronavirus, one of
several government officials who've tested
positive.
The growing number of cases have led some
to question if the government is hiding the
spread of the virus. It didn't help that,just
two months ago, it took the government three
days before acknowledging it shot down a Ukrainian
passenger plane, killing all 167 on board.
But many Iranians say, in the struggle to
contain the coronavirus, their government
is not solely to blame. They say crippling
U.S. sanctions against Iran have put severe
pressure on the country's public health sector.
The Trump administration insists sanctions
don't target humanitarian trade. But human
rights groups say banking restrictions limit
Iran's ability to buy humanitarian goods.
Tehran pharmacist Ali Mazlomi says sanctions
have made it impossible to purchase vital
medical products.
MOHAMMAD ALI MAZLOMI, Pharmacist (through
translator): The sanctions put in place by
America, without a doubt, it's the people
who are paying the price. They are the most
vulnerable.
REZA SAYAH: Last week, the U.S. Treasury eased
some humanitarian trade restrictions against
Iran. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said
Washington was ready to help Iran fight the
outbreak.
In his weekly press conference streamed online
due to the coronavirus, the Iranian Foreign
Ministry spokesman's picture was fuzzy, but
his message to Washington was clear.
SEYYED ABBAS MOUSAVI, Iranian Foreign Ministry
Spokesman (through translator): We have doubts
about the United States' intention, and we
do not count on its help.
REZA SAYAH: Many Iranians feel the same.
A couple of days ago, U.S. Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo said, we care about the Iranian
people. We want to help them.
What was your reaction when you heard that?
FAEZEH KHORASANI: B.S.
REZA SAYAH: B.S.?
FAEZEH KHORASANI: Exactly.
MEHRAB KABOLI: America is one of the root
causes of this problem. I have no expectations
at all that America will help solve problems
that America itself played a key role in creating.
No, I don't have any expectations.
REZA SAYAH: Tehran-based economic analyst
Saeed Laylaz says U.S. sanctions are proof
that the Trump administration doesn't care
about the Iranian people.
Mike Pompeo said, we're worried about the
Iranian people.
Why are you laughing?
SAEED LAYLAZ, Economic Analyst: Because he
make joke. I don't -- I know that he's lying.
He's a big liar. Mr. Pompeo doesn't like Iranian
nation.
REZA SAYAH: Laylaz says the Trump administration's
maximum pressure campaign has escalated tensions
between Washington and Iran, crippled Iran's
economy, and led to a sweeping victory by
anti-U.S. hard-liners in Iran's recent parliamentary
elections.
SAEED LAYLAZ: This current radicalism which
you are seeing in Iran, radicals who are governing
the country, who are occupying Parliament,
next coming Parliament and so on, directly
is a fruit or consequence of United States'
sanction against Iran.
REZA SAYAH: But, somehow, many Iranians remain
hopeful for better days.
AMIR PARVANDAR (through translator): I hope,
one day, these two countries can be friends.
This is our wish.
I am serious. Life, after all, is for happiness
and peace.
REZA SAYAH: With challenges mounting, amid
what could be a deadly pandemic, happiness
and peace for many Iranians will have to wait.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Reza Sayah in
Tehran.
