US intelligence skeptical about Covid-19 outbreak in China, Russia and North Korea

Color scan of an apoptotic cell (blue) infected with Sars-CoV-2 virus particles (red) that cause Covid-19. Source: Reuters

Intelligence agencies are also limited in providing insight into the full impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in Iran, despite widespread media coverage of infections and deaths among Iranian leaders and citizens, according to sources.

China, Russia, North Korea and Iran are four countries that have been classified as “top targets” by US intelligence agencies. Experts say an accurate assessment of the epidemic in these countries could help the US and the international community limit human and economic damage from the Covid-19 pandemic.

US intelligence agencies are not only looking for accurate numbers on the number of cases in each country, but also how each country is handling the crisis. US intelligence agencies first issued a report on Covid-19 in January, and issued early warnings to lawmakers about the outbreak in China.

However, regarding the latest information expressing doubts about the authenticity of epidemic information in four countries: China, Russia, North Korea and Iran, the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence has refused to comment!

North Korea has previously claimed that it has not recorded any Covid-19 cases despite sharing a border with China. However, in another move, the country has asked international aid agencies to provide items such as masks and test kits.

Earlier, last week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also made a statement alluding to the lack of accurate information about the epidemic from Russia and Iran; at the same time, he accused China of a campaign of information disinformation, which Beijing has denied many times before./.