An Iranian cleric has told followers
that COVID-19 vaccines turn people gay.
According to the Jerusalem Post,
Ayatollah Abbas Tabrizian made the comments on the encrypted
messaging app Telegram, where he is followed by more than 210,000
people.
“Don't go near those who have had the
COVID vaccine,” he
said. “They have become homosexuals.”
(Related: Israeli
orthodox rabbi claims COVID-19 vaccine might turn people gay.)
The Shia cleric is known for his
opposition to academic medicine.
Early on in the pandemic, he suggested
applying violet oil to the anus as a cure for COVID-19, AI-Monitor
reported.
Iranian dissident Sheina Vojoudi told
the Jerusalem Post that Tabrizian is trying “to scare people
[out] of getting vaccinated, while the leader of the regime and other
officials got Pfizer, and they don't provide it for the people with
the excuse that they don't trust the West.”
Iran has had nearly 1.5 million cases
of COVID-19 and nearly 60,000 deaths.
According to Human Rights Watch, gay
sex is illegal in Iran.