French President Emmanuel Macron, in a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on Monday, stated the readiness of France and European partners to continue humanitarian cooperation with Iran, the Elysee Palace said in a statement.
"He expressed solidarity with the Iranian people, severely affected by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic," it said.
"He recalled that France and its European partners had delivered medical equipment to Iran and were ready to continue humanitarian cooperation," the Elysee Palace added.
France delivered its first consignment of humanitarian aid to Iran in early March to help the country fight the new virus outbreak.
During the Monday conversation, Iran’s Rouhani wished success for France’s government and people as well as all people throughout the world in the fight against coronavirus global pandemic.
He noted that “all countries and governments should pay attention that they cannot overcome this sensitive condition without cooperating and taking advantage of experiences of each other.”
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian president referred to the US sanctions, saying that friendly countries should exert pressure on the United States to lift its "cruel and one-sided" sanctions against Tehran at the current juncture that the Islamic Republic is diligently fighting the deadly new coronavirus pandemic.
“The US sanctions imposed against the Islamic Republic of Iran are in violation of the World Health Organization's (WHO) rules and regulations,” he added.
He also pointed to the EU trade mechanism with Iran dubbed “INSTEX” and termed that the preliminary and initial measures taken by EU in the field of launching the mechanism positive but ‘insufficient’.
This path should not be limited to the medical and food products, rather, INSTEX should be used for meeting all demands of the country, Rouhani emphasized.
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