h/t Instapundit
[yahoo] - Paris (AFP) - Even according to official figures, the coronavirus epidemic has killed over 1,800 people in Iran, prompting unprecedented measures that have included closing holy Shiite shrines.
But could the authorities in the Islamic republic be underplaying the severity of the COVID-19 epidemic and the challenge in fighting it?
The crisis has come as the country faces one of its most troubled periods since the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, with Iran increasingly estranged from the international community and its economy battered by American sanctions.
Going by official data, Iran is the fourth-worst hit country after Italy, China and Spain. Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour has described an uptick of 50 new cases per hour and a new death every 10 minutes.
Clearly you're not devout to Allan enough. Keep licking shrines
But Persian language media outside Iran, citing figures from regional sources, claim even this grim toll is a lowball.
On Saturday, the Prague-based, US-funded Radio Farda said at least 660 more people have died than the official tally.
And the exiled National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), outlawed in Iran, has claimed the real death toll could be as high as 8,800.
My feeling is if the people at the top get it, the hoi polloi are dying like flies. 
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