Rita Neves Costa
Today at 00:26–
Several satellite images show the rapid and sudden construction of graves in a cemetery in the Iranian city of Qom, 130 kilometers from the capital. Iran is currently one of the countries most affected by the Covid-19 infection.
The complaint is made through the American newspaper “The Washington Post”, which shows several satellite images of a cemetery in Qom, where the first cases of coronavirus infection in Iran arose. This cemetery, one of the largest in the Iranian city, is located in the Behesht-e Masoumeh complex. The records made available to the newspaper by Maxar Technologies, a space technology company in Colorado, in the United States, show a part of the cemetery (not previously used) where several graves were hurriedly built. They allegedly serve to accommodate Covid-19’s growing death toll.
Also according to The Washington Post, excavation of the tombs began on February 21, with satellite images showing the before and after of the cemetery, coinciding with the mass construction of graves with the evolution of Covid-19 disease. in Iran. In total, the two large batches of tombs built in recent months may have a similar size to a football field.
According to the Iranian Ministry of Health, the official number of deaths from coronavirus infection exceeds 400 and more than 10,000 people will be infected. However, in the city of Qom (where the outbreak began and the cemetery is located), the Iranian government has not released figures for the victims and the sick. In addition to the images of the American space company, there are also several videos posted on social networks, from an anonymous source but verified by the newspaper, which allegedly show several bodies waiting to be buried.
One of Maxar Technologies’ analysts said that in one of the images of the Qom cemetery, Iranian authorities are seeing material used regularly in mass graves to alleviate the odor of the deterioration of the corpses.
This Thursday, Iran demanded that the United States immediately lift the sanctions imposed on Tehran, so that the country could more successfully combat the coronavirus outbreak. “While the virus is damaging our cities and people, our population (…) suffers the most severe and indiscriminate economic terrorism campaign in history,” said Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, in a letter sent to António Guterres, UN Secretary-General.
Tension between the United States and Iran has worsened since 2018 and under the command of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidency. The relationship deteriorated further earlier this year when the President of the United States ordered an attack on General Qassem Soleimani, one of the top figures in the Iranian state, which resulted in his death. The attacks and counterattacks between the two countries resulted in the announcement of further economic sanctions under Tehran.
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