The US sanctions caused Iran $ 200 billion worth of damage; their impact is preventing the world from coping with the pandemic, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani wrote in letters addressed to leaders of several countries.
“The fight against this virus requires coordinated joint actions both in the region and around the world, on the one hand; on the other, serious measures to meet the basic needs of the population, financial support for those affected by the suspension of business, huge expenses for health and medicine”, – the Iranian President wrote.
Rouhani also pointed out that Iran is facing serious restrictions related to US sanctions and a policy of maximum pressure on Tehran.
“The US regime in recent years has imposed more than 100 sanctions against the people and government of Iran, adding about 1.2 thousand individuals and organizations to the sanctions list”, – the President added, indicating that “US sanctions directly damaged Iran’s economy by about 200 billion dollars in less than two years”.
In this regard, he called on the international community to prevent the influence of US anti-Iranian sanctions on the fight against coronavirus, saying that undermining the economy affects the fight against the disease in other countries.
At the moment, in Iran since February 19, when the authorities first reported the coronavirus, 12 729 cases of infection have been detected, of which 611 are fatal, while more than 4.3 thousand people have recovered.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared the outbreak of the new coronavirus COVID-19 a pandemic. More than 140 thousand people in 129 countries are already infected in the world, the majority have recovered, but more than 5.3 thousand have died.