‘If I am going to die, I feel I would rather die in my own country,” said Mr. Absawi as he headed for his home province of Muthanna, in Iraq’s southwest.

The Iranians were soon off to a hotel in Najaf, Iraq, where they were to wait for the required paperwork.

That night, the Najaf Health Department sent medical workers to swab them and sent the samples to Baghdad. One of the women tested positive for the coronavirus, said Dr. Radwan Kamil al-Kindi, the director general of the Najaf Health Service.

One of the diplomats, the Iranian consul in Najaf, was upset, Dr. al-Kindi said, and refused to accept the news.

“So I gave them a choice, go into quarantine for 14 days or leave,” Dr. al-Kindi said. “The consul did not want to go into quarantine. I kept thinking, ‘Damn you guys, you bring in this infection.’ All of our infections in Iraq came from Iran.”

Dr. al-Kindi held his ground. The diplomats and their relatives returned to Iran that night, said Dr. al-Kindi, looking a little embarrassed that he had to be so tough with a foreign guest.

“But, you know, I cannot let them infect my people,” he said.

Falih Hassan contributed reporting.