People in Iran vehemently protested the shutdown of two major Holy shrines, Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad and Fatima Masumeh Shrine in Qom after health officials pressed the Iranian authorities to close down the shrines to stop the spread of coronavirus in the country.
Numerous videos of religious zealots and clerics of Iran circulated on social media. The videos showed the religious hardliners inciting people against the Iranian authorities. Some of the ferocious clerics swear the World Health Organization and Iranian authorities for closing down the shrines.
For weeks, WHO had alerted the Iranian authorities that kissing and touching the shrine may exacerbate the spread of coronavirus in the country and region.
After international pressure, Iran closed the shrine in Qom, the epicentre of #CoronaVirus.
This religious zealot from Iran brainwashed by the regime's propaganda says "World Health Organisation doesn't believe in God".
His mentality killed thousands in Iran due to the virus. pic.twitter.com/lSD3EZV4AN
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) March 17, 2020
Upon incitement, a bevy of furious protestors attempted to forcibly enter the shrines on Monday night. Protestors chanted objections to the closure. The Iranian authorities had barred the pilgrims from touching and kissing the shrines since this could have spread the virus.
Earlier on Monday, state TV in Iran had announced the temporary shutdown of shrines sparking outrage from hardline Shiite believers.
This cleric from Iran and many like him are the reason why #CoronaVirus pandemic claimed thousands of lives in the country and in the world.
He's angry that a shrine in Qom (epicentre of the virus in Iran) was closed down. He says he doesn't care about world's health. pic.twitter.com/Huf0vHGtM8
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) March 17, 2020
“We are here to say that Tehran is damn wrong to do that!” one Shiite cleric shouted at the shrine in Mashhad, according to online video. Others joined him in chanting: “The health minister is damn wrong to do that, the president is damn wrong to do that!”
Police entered to disperse the agitated crowd while Iranian clerics and a prominent Qom seminary urged the believers to rely on “wisdom and patience” amid the closure of shrines.
Expansion of burial pits in Iran
Iran is currently the hotbed of coronavirus in the region. The death toll in the country has spiked to 1000 while 16,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in the country.
However, recent satellite images show that Iran is rapidly expanding burial pits in Qom.
The satellite images released by Maxar Technologies shows an increase in the burial pits inside the Behest-e-Masoumeh cemetery in Qom. The images date between March 1 and March 8, CNN reported.
Read more: Coronavirus: NATO’s massive military exercise has been canceled
The Behest-e-Masoumeh morgue director informed that the burial of the deceased from coronavirus was delayed because testing takes time. Moreover, the medical staff added that fear of coronavirus is discouraging staff to perform the last rituals of washing the body of the deceased as per Islamic traditions before being buried.
Several high-risk Iranian officials have also tested positive for the coronavirus. Iran’s former foreign minister, Ali Akbar Velayati, has also infected coronavirus.
Another Khamenei adviser, Mohammad Mirmohammadi, 71, died last week, and one of the country’s top clerics, Hadi Khosroshahi, succumbed to the sickness last month.
So far, 23 members of the country’s 290-member parliament had tested positive.