Zarif: US Impeding Global Battle with COVID-19

TEHRAN (defapress) – Foreign Minister of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif took a swipe at the US government for impeding the global fight against coronavirus, calling on all countries to defy Washington’s “mass punishment”.

News ID: 80594

Date: 23 March 2020 - 13:27

In a post on his Twitter account on Monday, Foreign Minister Zarif highlighted the destructive impacts of the US sanctions on the efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

“Iranian people appreciate the growing global campaign of government & civil society leaders calling for lifting of illegal US sanctions,” he said.

“US is NOT listening, impeding global fight against #COVID19,” the top Iranian diplomat deplored.

“The ONLY remedy: DEFY US mass punishment. MORAL & PRAGMATIC imperative,” he added.

The Iranian foreign minister has intensified diplomatic efforts in recent weeks to persuade the other countries to defy the US sanctions against Iran which have hampered the efforts to control the coronavirus epidemic.

Earlier this month, Zarif sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, denouncing the US’ sanctions as a major obstacle to the Islamic Republic’s fight against the coronavirus and urging that such unilateral and illegal sanctions should end.

Zarif emphasized in the letter that despite Iran’s scientific capabilities and the commitment that the country’s health system has shown to the fight against the coronavirus outbreak, the US’ sanctions on legal trade and the preconditions that the United States’ authorities have set recently in order to prevent the sale of medicine, medical equipment and humanitarian supplies have posed serious obstacles to the efforts to battle against the COVID-19 outbreak in Iran.