
Shocking pictures showing homeless people in Iran taking shelter in empty graves in freezing temperatures have prompted a public outcry - and criticism from the country's president.

Iran's ability to handle poverty and addiction has come under fire after the photographs were published.

Those forced to shelter in the graves have reported that they have been shunned by Iranians, with one woman saying she had rocks thrown at her.

A man looks up from a grave in which he is taking shelter 12 miles from Iranian capital Tehran, in pictures which have shocked the country

It has been claimed that up to four people huddle together in the graves as they seek shelter from the cold

The pictures by photographer Saeed Gholamhoseini were taken in Shahriar, which is around 12 miles west of Tehran.

Newspaper Shahrvand reported that around 50 men, women and children live in the cemetery.

In an open letter to President Hassan Roujhani, Oscar-winning film director Asghar Farhadi said government officials should put on disguises and go into communities to see what life it really like.

A man pictured living in an empty grave to escape freezing temperatures in Iran, where unemployment stands at around 12 per cent

Newspaper Shahrvand reported that around 50 men, women and children live in the cemetery, which is close to Iranian capital Tehran

A homeless man is one of the estimated 50 to be living in the cemetery, in pictures which have shocked Iran

Describing the images of people living in graves near Tehran, Farhadi - who directed Academy Award-winning film A Separation - wrote: 'Now I am full of shame and have tears in my eyes.'

A nationwide debate on Iranian media and online between individuals, officials and several institutions has yielded proposals ranging from forced sterilisation of addicts to free deliveries of hot food and rehabilitation programmes.

'Who can accept ... that fellow human beings who suffer social ills have to take refuge in graves because of homelessness?' President Hassan Rouhani asked in a speech shown live on state TV.

A woman living in the cemetery, captured in a series of images which have shocked Iranian citizens

A woman emerges from a grave, in a cemetery where around 50 homeless men, women and children are living, according to reports in Iran

And the president continued: 'I have heard about people in western countries who sleep on cardboard under bridges out of poverty, or those who sleep in metro stations, but not in graves.

'To solve these issues we must all unite and leave aside partisan issues and differences and address the basic problems of the country.'

Welfare officials have given details of shelters available across the capital for the homeless and said many avoid them because the centres do not allow drug use.

It has been claimed that around 50 people are living in a cemetery close to Tehran - with some having lived there for a decade

President Hassan Roujhani said: 'To solve these issues we must all unite and leave aside partisan issues and differences and address the basic problems of the country'

Special buses are also provided for addicts to sleep in overnight, when temperatures are often below freezing, the officials said.

'They brought us food a few nights ago, but they wanted to fool us and take us to the (rehabilitation) camp,' a woman sleeping in a grave told Shahrvand, which claimed some people had been living in the cemetery for a decade.

'Other people bother us or throw rocks at us ... Aren't we human beings?'

Iran's official unemployment rate currently stands at 12.7 per cent - an increase from 10.6 per cent two years ago.

A man crouched above a grave in the cemetery 12 miles from Tehran, in images which have sparked an outcry in Iran

A man living in an empty grave close to Tehran, in images which have caused an outcry in Iran