Pakistan calls for Iranian sanctions to be lifted amid coronavirus outbreak
- By Web Desk -
- Mar 20, 2020
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi who is under self-imposed isolation after his recent visit to China amid the global coronavirus pandemic took to Twitter on Friday to show solidarity with neighbouring Iran in their hour of need, ARY News reported.
FM Qureshi said that the decision to impose sanctions on Iran as they take heavy losses due to coronavirus lacked compassion.
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The foreign minister tweeted: “The entire global community is fighting an unprecedented pandemic. We must, as leaders at the time of such great challenge & difficulty, show utmost compassion. Sanctions must be lifted against Iran, in this moment of peril so that it can use its resources to save precious human lives.”
The entire global community is fighting an unprecedented pandemic.We must, as leaders at time of such great challenge & difficulty, show utmost compassion. Sanctions must be lifted against Iran, in this moment of peril so that it can use its resources to save precious human lives
— Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) March 20, 2020
The coronavirus kills at least one person every 10 minutes in Iran, the country’s health ministry has warned, as shortages force medics to treat the sick without protective gear, while families say they are burying their loved ones in makeshift pits.
Nearly 18,500 have been infected and at least 1,284 people have died of Covid-19 in the country, the highest death toll outside of China and Italy.
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The official body count increased by 149 yesterday, the largest one day jump since the crisis, showing how quickly the effects of the pandemic are accelerating in Iran.
The World Health Organisation, however, has warned Iran’s toll was potentially five times higher as the testing has been restricted to the “most severe cases”. The authorities have also struggled to enforce measures like quarantine and self-isolation.