Iran FM accuses Trump of ‘maliciously’ tightening sanctions amid coronavirus threat

Iranian Finance Minister Javad Zarif accused US President Donald Trump of “maliciously” tightening the economic sanctions when the country’s resources are needed to contain the spread of deadly coronavirus. Taking to Twitter, Zarif lashed out at Trump for imposing “illegal” sanctions and called upon the world to break their silence on “economic terrorism” of the United States.

Iran is struggling to contain the novel coronavirus and has reported the most number of deaths after China with the death toll rising to 145. Several Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait, have put a travel ban on Tehran after they confirmed coronavirus cases in their country linked to Iran. 

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Death of lawmaker

Iranian MP Fatemeh Rahbar died due to the coronavirus after contradicting reports about her health condition emerged on March 6. Iran’s semi-official news agency confirmed the death of the Iranian lawmaker following the reports of her critical health condition.

Rahbar’s demise is the second death of an Iranian lawmaker due to COVID-19 after another MP, Mohammad Ali Ramazani Dastak, died on February 29 after being taken to hospital. Several other government officials, including two Iranian vice presidents and two advisors to the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, have also been infected the deadly virus.

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Coronavirus epidemic has become a major concern around the world as the more than 100,000 cases have been confirmed globally. The worst affected countries are China, South Korea, Iran, and Italy with around 3,500 deaths due to COVID-19. According to the latest report, 28 new deaths in China due to coronavirus infections have been confirmed, taking the total death toll because of the deadly virus to 3,070.

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