Zarif Urges UN to ‘Disregard Inhuman US Sanctions’ amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Zarif made the call in a letter sent to the head of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the top Iranian diplomat said in a tweet late Friday.

“In letter to UN SG @antonioguterres,I urge the world body—and member states—to disregard inhuman US sanctions on my country. And insist that they be lifted.”

“As the #COVID19 ravages Iran, we should recognize that viruses don’t discriminate. To fight them, neither should humans,” he added, referring to the medical abbreviation of the deadly virus.

He also posted the two-page letter as attached photos.

“While the virus ravages our cities and towns, our population – unlike those of other countries affected – suffer under the most severe and indiscriminate campaign of economic terrorism in history, imposed illegally and extra-territorially by the Government of United States since it reneged on its commitments under Security Council Resolution 2231 in May 2018,” Zarif said in his letter.

Some Nations Reacted Positively

Later, spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry Abbas Mousavi, said that some nations had responded positively to the letter, but did not give specific details as to which countries had agreed to provide support.

“After the Twitter posts from Dr. Zarif, a number of countries and organizations expressed their readiness to send medical aid or to provide and sell them to Iran,” he said.

Iran is one of the countries which are severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic so far with 11,364 infections and 514 deaths as of Friday, according to Mehr news agency.

Meanwhile, the country’s lack of access to its outside resources due to US sanctions has influenced the process of containing the disease.