In this picture released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks to a group of residents of the city of Qom, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020. Ayatollah Khamenei said “we slapped them (Americans) on the face last night” with a missile strike “but military action is not enough.” He spoke hours after the strike at military bases in Iraq used by U.S. forces. The strike was in retaliation for the U.S. killing of Iran’s top military commander in Baghdad. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

The extent of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in Iran is largely a mystery right now. Due to the totalitarian nature of the country, it’s incredibly difficult to get good information about infections and deaths.

Regardless, there’s every reason to believe the virus is raging within the country, if for no other reason than stuff like this is happening.

These monsters are the reason why the #Coronavirus spread so rapidly in Iran. This mullah is telling ppl to shake hands & kiss each other on the cheek, hoping it would lead to more #COVID19 infections & eventually to people becoming immune.

CC: @WHO @statedeptspox @PressSec @VP pic.twitter.com/vfP9kMXpMx

— M. Hanif Jazayeri (@HanifJazayeri) March 12, 2020

As I reported last week, other clerics are also having people lick and kiss Muslim shrines, which only expedites the spread of coronavirus in a dramatic way.

Now, it appears the ridiculous way the Iranian government and it’s religious community have handled the crisis is ending very, very badly. New satellite photos show massive new graves being dug and sprinkled with lime to hide the smell.

You may think "but license plates are visible from space." But these pits are as long as a football field, and the white stuff is believed to be lime, which is thrown on corpses to minimize stench and infection https://t.co/fQGyp9QsQ9

— Graeme Wood (@gcaw) March 12, 2020

The amount of dead in that picture is hard to fathom. It has to be in the thousands, with the caveat being that we can’t know for sure.

Iran may be our military and geopolitical enemy, but I would never wish something like this on their people. Every Iranian I’ve interacted with who actually lives in Iran hates the regime and wants to see it fall. They don’t deserve this and it’s a tragedy that they continue to suffer under such awful oppression.

Pray for the people of Iran as this situation worsens. They need it.