Three high-ranking officials from the Islamic Republic of Iran have taken shots at communist China, one of Iran’s few allies, saying that the numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths that China has reported are a “bitter joke” and are “not trustworthy.”

Health Ministry Spokesman Dr. Kianoush Jahanpur slammed China on Sunday, saying that the numbers that they reported should not be trusted.

“It seems statistics from China was a bitter joke, because many in the world thought this is just like influenza, with fewer deaths,” Jahanpur said. “This [impression] were based on reports from China and now it seems China made a bitter joke with the rest of the world.”

Jahanpur continued, “If in China they say an epidemic was controlled in two months, one should really think about it.”

Radio Farda reported that Dr. Minoo Mohraz, Head of the Iranian Center for HIV/AIDS, joined Jahanpur in striking out at China on Monday.

“Either the virus has mutated and become deadlier, or they were slacking in providing the data,” Mohraz said. “The disease has proved to be frighteningly more infectious and deadly than they reported.”

“Our experience about their scientific research has taught us not to rely on their statistics,” Mohraz continued. “They provide the numbers and no one can go to China and report what they see [on the ground] directly.”

Radio Farda noted that another member of Iran’s coronavirus task force, epidemiologist Dr. Hamid Souri, also took a shot at China’s reported numbers.

“The evidence shows us that what happened is worse than what the Chinese reported,” Souri said. “We could not make any judgements at first because our country had no experience [with coronavirus] to compare the results.”

“Wrong data leads to wrong results and incorrect policies which in turn lead to in an increase in the number of victims,” Souri continued. “Italy is now experiencing a slowing trend [in infections and deaths] but we have unfortunately not got there yet.”

Skepticism has existed about the accuracy and honesty behind the numbers that communist China has reported on its coronavirus outbreak since it lied about the outbreak initially and tried to cover it up.

The U.S. Intelligence Community confirmed to President Donald Trump last week that they know that China is lying about its numbers.

“China’s public reporting on cases and deaths is intentionally incomplete,” Bloomberg News reported, citing three U.S. officials. “Two of the officials said the report concludes that China’s numbers are fake.”

An analysis from The Washington Post last week estimated that the number of deaths in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak originated, is more than 16 times higher than what China reported.

“The coronavirus pandemic ravaging the globe officially claimed 2,563 lives in Wuhan, where it began in a market that sold exotic animals for consumption,” The Post reported. “But evidence emerging from the city as it stirs from its two-month hibernation suggests the real death toll is exponentially higher.”

“Using photos posted online, social media sleuths have estimated that Wuhan funeral homes had returned 3,500 urns a day since March 23,” The Post continued. “That would imply a death toll in Wuhan of about 42,000 — or 16 times the official number. Another widely shared calculation, based on Wuhan’s 84 furnaces running nonstop and each cremation taking an hour, put the death toll at 46,800.”