- Iran has become one of the worst-affected countries by the $4, reporting nearly 1,000 deaths and more than 16,000 cases.
- Some experts and critics of the Iranian regime say it's likely the virus is far more severe than the government is reporting, alleging that officials have sought to cover up the full extent of the outbreak.
- Amid the worsening crisis, American sanctions on Iran have come under fire as the country struggles with a shortage of medical equipment and protective gear.
- A series of disturbing satellite images has also revealed the deadliness of the virus - workers have been digging mass burial pits for weeks.
- On Tuesday, an Iranian state TV journalist $4 the country could see 4 million cases of COVID-19 and and 3.5 million deaths if people don't comply with the government's travel warnings and guidance to socially isolate.
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Just months into the global coronavirus crisis, Iran has emerged as one of the pandemic's hardest-hit countries, with a skyrocketing death toll, sick and dying government officials and religious leaders, and a crackdown on information.
As of Tuesday, the health officials had reported $4 and more than $4 across the country.
The Iranian government has been accused of a range of missteps in handling the outbreak, from initially downplaying the extent and the severity of the outbreak, to facing allegations of a full-blown cover-up.
There's even reason to believe the true number of deaths far exceeds what the government has reported. Western media reports have been skeptical about the reliability of the Iranian government's data, and $4 captured last week have revealed massive burial trenches that can be seen from space.
Here's how the situation has devolved in Iran and how it got so dire.