US Congresswoman Calls for Lifting of Sanctions on Iran amid COVID-19 Outbreak


US Congresswoman Calls for Lifting of Sanctions on Iran amid COVID-19 Outbreak

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar called on the White House to suspend sanctions against Iran as the country struggles to deal with the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

"We need to suspend these sanctions before more lives are lost," Omar said via Twitter on Friday.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in a recent letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, called on the international community to "disregard inhuman US sanctions" amid the outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus in the country.

Iranian Health Ministry Spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on Friday that since yesterday noon, the total number of coronavirus cases in the country has increased by 1,289, reaching 11,364.

Over the past 24 hours, 85 patients have lost their lives, the spokesman said, adding that the death toll from the new coronavirus epidemic in the country has risen to 514.

Fortunately, so far 3,529 patients infected with the COVID-19 have recovered and discharged from hospitals, he said.

Medical staffs in all 31 provinces of Iran have been working tirelessly over the past weeks to contain the novel coronavirus.

First detected in Wuhan city in central China in December, the virus has spread to more than 120 countries.

More than 140,000 have been infected globally, according to the WHO. Of those, over 68,000 have recovered.

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