TEHRAN, Mar. 18 (MNA) – Croatian President Zoran Milanović, whose country currently holds the rotatory presidency of the EU, voiced the bloc’s decisive support of the Iran nuclear deal and expressed solidarity with Iranian people amid the coronavirus outbreak.

On Tuesday, the newly-appointed ambassador of Iran to Croatia, Parviz Esmaeili, presented his credentials to President Zoran Milanović.

During the meeting, the Iranian ambassador maintained that putting nations under sanctions is a politically-motivated move, and making efforts to remove them is a human responsibility.

The Croatian President Zoran Milanović, whose country currently holds the rotatory presidency of the European Union, stressed that the deceive position of the bloc is to support the Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

He further maintained that Iran is a victim of the novel coronavirus outbreak, and voiced solidarity with the Iranian people.

During a telephone conversation on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Croatian counterpart Gordan Grlić-Radman discussed the latest developments related to the outbreak of coronavirus in Iran and the world. 

Zarif appreciated Croatia's support for Iran amid the COVID-19 outbreak but emphasized that the EU must not abide by the US unilateral and unlawful sanctions. 

He said the EU should do this not only as a JCPOA obligation but also to prevent the deaths of innocent Iranians due to the cruel US sanctions. 

As of Tuesday, the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak, officially known as COVID-19, in Iran has risen to 988 with 16,169 confirmed cases.

MNA/IRN83718965