Iran FM says US cruel sanctions severely hindering anti-corona fight
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the cruel and unilateral sanctions imposed by the White House are severely hampering the Islamic Republic's fight against the novel coronavirus.
"The cruel and unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States constitute a major obstacle to Iran's fight against the dangerous coronavirus," Zarif said in a phone conversation with Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on Sunday, emphasizing that Iran and other countries will eventually overcome the outbreak of the deadly virus.
The top Iranian and Azeri diplomats also exchanged views about the COVID-19 outbreak in the region and across the globe, calling for a collective containment cooperation.
Also on Sunday, Zarif spoke on the phone with Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan about possible ways to contain the pandemic.
The Iranian foreign minister said the international community was now impacted and that collective determination, cooperation and interaction of all nations were needed in the fight against the disease.
Al Nahyan, for his part, expressed his country's support for the Iranian government and nation in the battle.
In a letter sent to a number of world leaders on Friday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the fight against the coronavirus requires bolstering joint and coordinated regional and international measures, adopting serious strategies, and sustaining huge medical and care costs.
The Iranian foreign minister on Saturday pointed to Rouhani's letter to his counterparts and said, "It is IMMORAL to let a bully kill innocents."
In letter to counterparts @HassanRouhani informs how efforts to fight #COVID19 pandemic in Iran have been severely hampered by US sanctions, urging them to cease observing them: It is IMMORAL to let a bully kill innocents
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) March 14, 2020
Viruses recognize no politics or geography. Nor should we
"In letter to counterparts @HassanRouhani informs how efforts to fight #COVID19 pandemic in Iran have been severely hampered by US sanctions, urging them to cease observing them," the top Iranian diplomat said in a post on his Twitter account.
"Viruses recognize no politics or geography. Nor should we."
Kianoush Jahanpour, the head of the public relations and information center of the Iranian Ministry of Health, said on Sunday the virus had claimed 113 lives in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall death toll to 724.
Jahanpour said that 1,209 fresh cases were added to the number of confirmed infections during the period, bringing the total to 13,938.
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