In a Friday tweet, the Iranian embassy in Japan wrote, “We expect Japan to ignore the cruel US sanctions against Iran and resume normal economic exchanges between the two countries while Iranians are fighting against coronavirus, in token of long-standing solidarity and friendship between Iran and Japan.”
Iranian Ambassador to Tokyo Morteza Rahmani also wrote in a tweet on Friday, “The international community, including Japan, should ignore the cruel and one-sided US sanctions that have endangered the health of the Iranian people and even the world, and provide Iran with access to medical equipment to combat coronavirus.”
“The right of access to health is one of the most important human rights issues and any restriction in this area violates this important principle,” he added.
“Fortunately, the authorities of some countries and international organizations have called for an urgent lifting of all sanctions, including medical, pharmaceutical, laboratory and other medical requirements, in consideration of these sensitive international special circumstances,” Rahmani noted.
On 20 March, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also called on his Japanese counterpart to increase efforts to remove unilateral sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic by the US administration.
The Iranian minister appreciated Japan’s aids to the Iranian nation to fight the virus, while also pointing to implemented measures in Iran to contain the outbreak.
Iran has asked other countries to disregard inhumane US sanctions as it is fighting with the spread of COVID-19 across the country. According to the latest announcement on Thursday, the death toll from the novel coronavirus outbreak, officially known as COVID-19, in Iran has risen to 2,234 with 29,406 confirmed cases and 10,457 recovered.
Some countries, such as China and Russia, have urged the US to lift the sanctions amid this outbreak but no official response from the White House has been yet announced. Meanwhile, the Trump administration introduced a new round of sanctions on nine Iranian entities on Tuesday.
MNA/IRN 83729172