On March 10, 2020, Iranian filmmaker Nader Talebzadeh hosted a discussion about the possibility that COVID-19 is a biological weapon on this show on Ofogh TV (Iran). The discussion was preceded by an animation that explained that the assumption is that COVID-19 is a synthetic virus that was designed as a bioterrorism agent in secret American laboratories as part of America's economic conflict with China. During the show, Iranian documentarian Hamed Ezzatizadeh said that his research has led him to the conclusion that the coronavirus is being used as a weapon, even though it is not clear whether it was produced as such or whether it is a naturally occurring virus. He wondered why China and Iran, which he explained are America's economic and ideological enemies, respectively, are two of the countries hit hardest by the virus, and he questioned why Hong Kong and the many poor countries with undeveloped public health systems that are between Iran and China, such as Tibet, Mongolia, and Afghanistan, have not been as affected by the virus as Iran has been. Dr. Ali Karami, a lecturer in medicine, said that as a result of the Iranian Genome Project, which he said was performed at Stanford University in violation of international conventions and with funding from Baha'i sources, the Americans and the Zionists have completely sequenced the genome of Iranians, and he suggested that the Americans have used this information in order to develop "ethnic weapons" that are most effective against certain ethnic groups. He said that Israel has been using these kinds of weapons to target Palestinians for a long time, and that this would explain why Iran, China, and South Korea are among the countries most affected by the coronavirus. Dr. Karami also claimed that Italy has been hit hard by the virus because Italians are genetically similar to Iranians. The other guest, Ezzatizadeh, pointed out that a similar campaign of ethnic bioterrorism had been used to annihilate the Native American population in the United States.
Animation: "The main assumption is that this virus is synthetic. In recent weeks, it has been said in the media – and even by certain officials – that this virus was produced in bioterrorism labs.
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"America is one of the countries that has carried out extensive secret military activities in this field. America's main military biological labs that can produce such viruses are BSL-4 laboratories.
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"Using biological means is of such importance for the Americans that the number of these labs grew from five in 2001 to 15 in 2009. First, one should answer the following question: Why has America produced and spread this virus? The answer is not difficult, because in the past year and a half, at minimum, America and China have engaged in every form of war, with the exception of military conflict. The trade war was another dimension of America's war to rein China in. This policy has been somewhat successful in showing down China's economic growth from 10%, which it had been for over three decades, to 6.6%. The integration of China's economy in the world economy has landed several blows to America's economy. Ultimately, Trump reached a short-term trade ceasefire with China. It seems, however, that while Trump was busy signing this agreement, the American researchers were busy producing a dangerous virus in America's biological labs in the region, in order to harm China's economy."
Hamed Ezzatizadeh: "My inquiries have not led me to the conclusion that this virus was produced as a weapon, nor have I reached the conclusion that it is natural and that it was not produced as a weapon. What is certain, though, is that it is being used as a weapon.
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"Some regimes are using [this virus] as a weapon in order to whitewash things that they are doing. What happened in India was a disaster, yet everybody's attention was directed at the coronavirus. What is happening now in Saudi Arabia... Once again, they are laying siege to Qatif, and apparently they are about to severely oppress the Shi'ites there.
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"Among the countries that have to seriously deal with the coronavirus, two are serious enemies of the Americans. One is their economic enemy, and the other is their ideological enemy.
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"The structure of the coronavirus is very similar to that of a virus called MERS. It is also known as 'Camels Corona', and it appeared in Saudi Arabia in 2012. It is also very similar to SARS. This really increases the possibility that this virus was engineered. If we put aside all these technical matters, one question arises: There are many countries between China and Iran. How did the virus fly into Iran and affect it so badly? Is it because Iran's health system is so week? No, this is not the case. Between China and Iran, there are so many poor countries with health systems that are nearly destroyed. Look at Tibet, Mongolia, and Afghanistan. Iran is much stronger than these countries. How did this virus fly to Iran all of a sudden? Hong Kong shares a border with China. Hongkongers are similar to the Chinese from a genetic perspective, as well as in their diet, lifestyle, and everything. Yet, nothing is happening there."
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Dr. Ali Karami: "The mortality rate in Iran... The number of deaths in our country is somewhat strange to me, because of the type of virus I am now researching. Look at Italy. How come the mortality rate there is so high? Italy is a European country. Our analysis shows that the genetics of the Italians are very similar to those of the Iranians.
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"We are talking about something that I am how suggesting exists: Ethnic weapons. These are biological weapons that cause higher mortality rates among certain races. From the molecular-biological perspective, this is not strange at all.
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"The question is: Was this virus altered? Was the genome of this virus built in a way that makes it easier for it to attach itself to the receptors of a certain genetic [identity] and cause an epidemic? Iran is the third most infected country after [China and] South Korea. What are the Americans doing in their labs?
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"Dear people who listen to me, look up 'Iranian Genome Project' on the internet. Who conducted this project? The American Stanford University. I've been following this project in the past five years. Three Iranians and two Americans at Stanford, who had $200,000 donated to the university by a Baha'i foundation, completely sequenced the Iranians' genome. According to the conventions on genetic diversity and on the preservation of countries' genomes, this measure is completely illegal. It violates international conventions.
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"114 Iranians from various ethnic groups participated in this project. They sequenced our genome in its entirety. 25,000 of our genes are held by the Americans and Israelis. They have our proteins. Did you know that they can produce medications or special viruses with specific receptors? Dear people who refuse to listen to me – don't say that I suffer from conspiracy theory-related anxieties.
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"In the Zionist regime, they work on bioterrorism agents that only infect a certain ethnic group – the Palestinians. Do not tell me that this is impossible."
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Hamed Ezzatizadeh: "With regard to the ethnic weapon he was talking about – this is how they annihilated the Indians in America."
Nader Talebzadeh: "Exactly"