When the coronavirus outbreak began, Iran's leaders confidently predicted their country's immunity.

They refused to implement quarantines, saying it was a practice from the Stone Age.

As the coronavirus crisis unfolded, religious leaders kept Islamic holy sites open and Iranian companies even exported their face masks to help China.

Then senior government officials — including the man responsible for the outbreak response and the head of emergency medical services — contracted the disease.

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Now 23 members of Iran's parliament and other senior advisers have tested positive, while a 71-year-old advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has died.

Those same officials who scoffed at quarantine have quarantined themselves.

Iran has a shortage of face masks and the Government's responses have swung from complacency to panic.

Authorities released 54,000 prisoners in a bid to limit the spread of the virus in crowded jails.

A plan to send 300,000 religious police to homes to screen citizens seemed in doubt after several Iranians pointed out it was a good way to spread the virus further.

The outbreak is exposing big weaknesses in Iran's health system, with health workers complaining they lack testing kits and protective equipment.

Most of the infections in the Middle East and even some in Australia and New Zealand have been linked to Iran, where COVID-19 has killed at least 92 people out of almost 3,000 confirmed cases.

Coronavirus is just the latest crisis for Iran

Iranians no longer believe assurances that the outbreak is under control, or Government figures about the number of infections and deaths.

Panic has gripped parts of Iran over coronavirus, with people stocking up on masks and anti-bacterial spray. ( Reuters: Nazanin Tabatabaee )

"The worst part is that we don't trust the numbers they give to us because they tried to hide it," said a 37-year-old Iranian who wants to be known as Nazli.

"We have no idea what exactly is going on, about the number of people who died or are affected or whatever. It's not a good feeling."

Australia's Government clearly also doubts Iran's figures and containment measures.

It swiftly implemented a travel ban on Iran but only just blocked South Korea, which has more confirmed cases.

Iran's Government has been reeling from recent crises.

There was the brutal suppression of widespread protests late last year, the US assassination of top general Qassem Soleimani and the Government's belated admission that the country's military shot down a Ukrainian plane in January.

Now the Government is trying to suppress dissatisfaction with its handling of coronavirus, warning health workers not to discuss the outbreak with the media and arresting people for 'rumour-mongering'.

Health officials are conducting temperature checks at public spaces including shopping malls in Iran. ( AP: Vahid Salemi )

"It seems like this country and in particular its Government has been hit very hard and it's in a very awkward situation right now," Holly Dagres, an Iran analyst with the Atlantic Council, told the ABC.

Ms Dagres says there's been a lot of speculation that coronavirus could be the final crisis to trigger a regime collapse.

"It's really hard to say that would be an outcome, but right now the situation is looking dire for the Iranian Government and it really heavily relies on how it handles the coronavirus outbreak."

Iran's isolation leaves them with few options

Another problem has been the reluctance of Iran's religious leadership to close holy sites or accept they were a key source of the outbreak.

Holy sites have been sprayed, but religious leaders in Iran refuse to shut them down. ( Reuters/WANA )

The holy city of Qom, where many pilgrims visit, has been the epicentre, but clerics did not shut shrines or prevent crowds gathering.

Some pilgrims filmed themselves licking a holy shrine to prove it was safe.

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But not all the problems are of Iran's making.

There are difficulties getting test kits and medical supplies, which doctors blamed on United States sanctions.

Medical supplies are exempt from sanctions, but the restrictions have made it difficult for companies to trade with Iran, forcing it to rely on trade with China.

That made the Government reluctant to limit travel from China when the rest of the world was doing so.

Iranian doctors say US-imposed sanctions have made it impossible for them to get the medical supplies to fight the virus. ( Reuters: Nazanin Tabatabae )

But amid the outbreak, Iranians have been keeping their sense of humour, sharing cartoons and videos mocking clerics, the Government and Iranian behaviour in general.

The key target for ridicule has been one cleric who suggested people rub oil from the pansy flower on their anus at night to cure the coronavirus.

A novel response to a novel virus.