ISLAMABAD : Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday appealed to the United States President Donald Trump to lift sanctions against Iran on humanitarian grounds to help the neighbouring country combat the coronavirus pandemic.
“The people of Iran are facing untold suffering as sanctions are crippling Iran’s efforts to fight COVID19,” the prime minister said in a tweet. “I want to appeal to President Trump on humanitarian grounds to lift the sanctions against Iran till the COVID19 pandemic is over.” “Humanity must unite to fight this pandemic,” the Prime Minister remarked.
Iran is among the worst affected coronavirus countries in the world with over 1,000 reported human casualties. The country had already been facing crippling US sanctions after President Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran. Speaking at a media briefing earlier this week, the prime minister had called on the international community to remove sanctions on Iran so that it can deal with the novel coronavirus crisis.
“I would stress and insist the international community to lift the sanctions on Iran. It is very unjust they are dealing with such a large outbreak on one side, and on the other they are facing international sanctions,” said PM Khan. It is to mention here that the President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani also wrote to Prime Minister Khan on Friday asking for him and Pakistan to play their role in getting the sanctions imposed on Iran lifted. Foreign office sources claimed that the Iranian President wrote a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan on March 14 requesting Pakistan to request relief on economic sanctions imposed by the United States on the country amid the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
