The images are stark and confronting, the stuff of real-life horror and sadness.
Photos of homeless drug addicts living in empty graves just outside the Iranian capital have deeply shocked the public and prompted reactions even from President Hassan Rouhani.
Shahrvand newspaper on Tuesday published the images by photographer by Saeed Gholamhoseini in a report on the homeless people - about 50 men and women - who dwell in a cemetery in the town of Shahriar, 30km west of Tehran.
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The story and the haunting images of the homeless staring into the camera from inside the unused grave slots spread quickly on social media, where users and celebrities reacted with expressions of alarm and grief.
One of the homeless people sleeping in graves in Shahriar, outside Tehran, huddle for warmth. Photo: ISNA PHOTO
In one of the images published this week, a grime-streaked man emerges out of a grave, smoke from a fire inside rising around him. Others huddle for warmth, smoking.
Who can see human beings hurt from social issues who take shelter in graves... and not feel ashamed?
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi aired his frustration in a letter to Rouhani.
