2 men that were filmed licking holy shrines in Iran could be facing jail time for ignoring health warnings by officials.

One of the videos shows a man at the Masumeh Shrine in the holy city of Qom.

While being filmed, the man said, “I’m licking this and I don’t care whatever happens. I’m not scared of coronavirus.”

In a different piece of footage, another man can be seen licking the rails of a tomb.

The man was heard in the video saying: “I’m here to lick the tomb so that I can fall ill. This way, I’ve removed the viruses.”

Hasan Nowrozi, an MP in Iran, said, “Those doing such unconventional acts are publishing fake and superstitious news against the officials in the country.”

Hasan added, “Such people would face two months to two years [in] jail and up to 74 lashes as punishment.”

Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist and activist, shared the videos on social media and made them viral.

During an interview with BBC, Masih said, “Arresting these two people is not enough as the religious centres are still open in Qom and other cities where people are suffering from coronavirus.”

Iran has closed schools and universities to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.

As of writing this article, there have been 199,193 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the entire world.

In Iran alone, there are 16,169 confirmed cases of the virus and have killed 988 people in the country.

Mashhad and Qom, 2 of the holiest cities in Iran, have been badly affected by the deadly virus.