US must lift sanctions if they truly want to help Iran fight against coronavirus pandemic — Rouhani

23 Mar, 2020 09:22

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Residents in Tehran, Iran. March 18, 2020. © WANA (West Asia News Agency) / Ali Khara / Reuters 

Washington’s offers to help Tehran against the deadly Covid-19 disease are disingenuous, because it is the US sanctions that undermine people’s access to medical care, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has said.

“When the Americans say they are ready to help Iran against the coronavirus, it is one of the greatest lies in history,” Rouhani said on Monday, urging Washington to “stop getting in the way of Iranian people doing business.”

If they want to help Iran, all they need to do is to lift sanctions.

Rouhani blamed the sweeping US sanctions for exacerbating unemployment and “creating problems with the supply of medicine and equipment” required for testing and treating Covid-19 patients.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had earlier accused Tehran of trying to conceal the scope of the outbreak, calling the Iranian government “an accomplice” of coronavirus.

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