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Fox News' main host, Tucker Carlson, cited a study that raised the possibility that the new Corona Virus "accidentally escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan".
And Republican senators Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz both raised the same prospect.
The study was published in early February as "pre-printed", or preliminary design, by two Chinese researchers - Botao Xiao and Lei Xiao from Guangzhou South China Technology University - and were not officially reviewed by colleagues. It was concluded that "the new killer corona virus may have originated in a laboratory in Wuhan".
But Xiao has told the Wall Street Journal that he later withdrew the study. "Speculation about the possible origins in the post is based on published newspapers and media and is not supported by direct evidence," the Wall Street Journal quoted him as saying.
The Washington Post reported in mid-April that two science diplomats from the US embassy visited the Wuhan Virology Institute in 2018 and warned Washington of "inadequate safety in the laboratory, which carries out risky studies of the corona bari virus from bats".
Jeremy Konyndyk, who led the US government's response to the Ebola outbreak, also wrote on his Twitter account and responded to a report about an accidental laboratory leak: "Science does not preclude the origin of the laboratory but does indicate that it is very unlikely."
Iran's supreme leader rejects American aid to combat the new Corona Virus, citing conspiracy theories that claim it could be man-made by the United States government.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments came to the fore on March 22, 2020, when Iran faced the destruction of US sanctions which prevented the country from selling its crude oil and accessing international financial markets. Similarly, as quoted by Al Jazeera, Monday (3/23/2020).
While Iranian officials have in recent days criticized the sanctions, 80-year-old Khamenei has echoed Chinese officials about the possible origins of the COVID-19 Corona Virus.
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