The strange case of Dr. Beikpour: tweet in defense of Western vaccines and intervention by the Iranian embassy
An absurd story is told to us by the Radio Free Europe website . A story with outlines yet to be explained, which directly concerns Italy and Iran, or rather an Iranian doctor, PhD student in virology in Italy, and the Iranian embassy in Rome.
Let's start from the beginning: a few days ago, Farzan Beikpour, an Iranian doctor who lives in Rome, PhD in virology and, according to Radio Free Europe , consultant for the Covid emergency of the Ministry of health, published a tweet in Farsi to reiterate the scientific efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine, harshly criticizing Tehran's choice to ban it for unfounded reasons. In the tweet, Beikpour emphasized how legitimate it was to oppose foreign vaccines, but not deny them to others.
His tweet sparked a series of reactions on social media , being picked up not only on Twitter but also elsewhere, for example on Telegram . The tweet, needless to say, called into question the decision of the Iranian Supreme Leader to ban the importation of "Western" vaccines into the Islamic Republic.
This is all part of the game. But what is astonishing and should be clarified is what happened later. On January 10, suddenly, Beikpour decides to delete the tweet , saying he is sorry for the use made of it on social networks. On January 16, also on Twitter , Beikpour reported having had a meeting at the Iranian embassy in Rome with Mr. Sahebi – who, according to the Farnesina book, appears to be the first adviser of the Tehran embassy in Rome.
During the meeting, according to Beikpour reports, the councilor Sahebi said he was extraneous to the political reactions received by the tweet written by Beikpour, while the Iranian doctor would have been sorry (or worse regretted) for the effect his tweet had on social media . As a result, Beikpour canceled the tweet in defense of the validity of Western vaccines. And with another tweet he also thanked Mr. Safari, third advisor to the Iranian embassy in Rome and, apparently, head of Iran's student affairs in Italy.
This is a story that leaves some questions open. First of all: was the cancellation of the tweet by Beikpour on January 10 the result of a free choice of the Iranian doctor, or of political pressure? Second question: with what authority has the Iranian embassy summoned the Beikpour, an Iranian doctor who lives in Italy and who must feel free to express himself? Third question: if he is really a consultant of the Italian Ministry of Health (we repeat: news reported by Radio Free Europe ), was the Ministry informed of his call to the embassy? And finally, beyond the Ministry of Health, was the Farnesina aware of it? Is this how foreign diplomats are entitled to behave in the territory where they are guests?
The post The strange case of Dr. Beikpour: tweet in defense of Western vaccines and intervention by the Iranian embassy appeared first on Atlantico Quotidiano .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Atlantico Quotidiano at the URL http://www.atlanticoquotidiano.it/quotidiano/lo-strano-caso-del-dott-beikpour-tweet-in-difesa-dei-vaccini-occidentali-e-intervento-dellambasciata-iraniana/ on Thu, 21 Jan 2021 04:46:00 +0000.