Iran's supreme leader ordered its armed forces to assist health officials in combating the coronavirus after the countries death toll as a result of the outbreak rises to 77.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, "whatever helps public health and prevents the spread of the disease is good and what helps to spread it is sin."
His decision was announced after state media broadcast images of the 80-year-old leader planting a tree wearing disposable gloves ahead of Iran's upcoming arbor day, showing how concern about the virus now reaches up to the top of the country's Shiite theocracy.