Coronavirus: Pro-Iran Iraqi militias join in sterilization drive in city of Qom

Members of the Iraqi Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) militia group joined the fight against coronavirus in Iran by sterilizing the Shia holy city of Qom on Saturday, according to images published by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

As of Saturday, 3,452 in Iran have died from coronavirus, and there are 55,743 confirmed cases.

Members of the PMU sterilized walls and entrances to homes and distributed bottles of disinfectant in Qom, images published by Tasnim showed.

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The PMU members were accompanied by “foreign students” and members of the Basij Force, the paramilitary arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to Tasnim.

By “foreign students” Tasnim is likely referring to students studying at Al-Mustafa International University (MIU).

MIU is a state-funded, Shia seminary based in Qom with almost 40,000 foreign students. MIU claims to be an international academic, Islamic, and university-style seminary institute.

Coronavirus is believed to have spread to Qom – the epicenter of the outbreak in Iran – through Chinese students studying at MIU.

A video on social media also showed members of the Lebanese Hezbollah group sterilizing Qom last month.