US Sanctions Damaging Health of Iranians, Spokesman Says
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The spokesperson for Iran’s administration blamed the US sanctions for adverse effects on the health of Iranians and the country’s healthcare system, but emphasized that the Islamic Republic is successfully battling against the novel coronavirus.
“Needless to say, the pressure of US sanctions and economic terrorism has adversely affected the country’s healthcare and medicinal system and also the health of people,” Ali Rabiee said at a weekly press conference on Monday.
He further emphasized that all of the Iranian administrative organizations, health institutions, industrial centers and even the military units have joined hands after the outbreak of COVID-19 in Iran to contain the disease.
Highlighting the great achievements of Iran in the battle with the novel coronavirus, Rabiee said the World Health Organization has announced that Iran is the second most successful country in the world in controlling and treating the disease.
The spokesman added that schools across the country will be closed until the end of this week, while a decision about the extension of the closure through the next week will be made on Thursday or Friday.
Rabiee also predicted that the rate of new cases of coronavirus infection in Iran would decline in the next two weeks.
The death toll from the novel coronavirus epidemic in Iran rose to 66 on Monday, and the total number of confirmed cases of infection reached 1501.
So far, 291 patients with the infectious disease have recovered in Iran, according to the Health Ministry.
The novel coronavirus has killed more than 3,000 people worldwide, the vast majority in mainland China. There have been more than 85,000 global cases, with infections on every continent except Antarctica.