TEHRAN - In a post on his Twitter page on Sunday, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the "U.S. is not listening" to "the growing global campaign" to lift "illegal" sanctions on the Iranians and thereby "impeding global fight against Covid-19".

Zarif suggested "the only remedy" to this intransigence is to "defy the U.S. mass punishment" of the Iranian citizens who are wrestling with the deadly pandemic coronavirus.

The chief diplomat said it is "moral and pragmatic imperative" to counter the Trump administration's sanctions on Iranians in this critical situation.

Iran is now considered the epicenter of coronavirus in the West Asia region. As of Sunday, about 22,000 Iranians had tested positive for coronavirus and around 1,700 lost their lives.

The foreign minister went on to say that the "Iranian people "appreciate" campaigns by "government and civil society leaders" who "are calling for lifting of illegal U.S. sanctions".



PA/PA