Apr 23, 2020 - Health

Mossad director: Iran is hiding the real coronavirus death toll

Yossi Cohen. AFP Contributor / Contributor

The director of Israel's foreign intelligence agency, Mossad, said in a briefing to health care officials on Thursday that Iran and its regional allies are intentionally underreporting cases and deaths from the coronavirus, officials who attended the event tell Axios.

What he's saying: According to officials who attended the briefing, Mossad Director Yossi Cohen said the situation in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Iran is much worse than the governments of those countries publicly acknowledge.

"There [has] been widespread infection and they are lying about it. The numbers the Iranians are reporting about are not true. The numbers of infected and dead I know about are much higher."
— Yossi Cohen

Background: Cohen has been one of the primary officials dealing with the coronavirus crisis after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked his agency to source medical equipment like ventilators and test kits from around the world.

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Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Axios Visuals

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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

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