US sanctions on Tehran’s financial sector have made it difficult for Iranians to find payment channels for international trade.
TEHRAN — Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has slammed the US’ continued sanctions against the Islamic Republic amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Even amid Covid-19, the US continues to exert Trump’s failed ‘maximum pressure’ on Iranians. Isn’t it time to try something that may actually work?” Zarif queried on social media on Friday.
The Iranian diplomat posted the image of a six-year-old Iranian girl who was affected by the US sanctions, as well as a complaint made by her, reports Xinhua news agency.
The girl, called Yasna, said she had a seizure at the age of six months, and her parents could not obtain the only medicine effective for her treatment after “ignorant American politicians made a wrong and inhuman decision overnight”.
According to the letter, Yasna’s illness then worsened and led to many seizures, which reduced 99 per cent of her speech ability and 90 per cent of her decision-making capability.
Zarif warned that “her situation isn’t unique in Iran”.
On December 16, 2020, Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiee said US sanctions have caused massive problems, including the “supply raw materials for medicine and industrial production parts”.
US sanctions on Tehran’s financial sector have made it difficult for Iranians to find payment channels for international trade.
The local currency, the Iranian Rial, has experienced a dramatic loss of value since May 2018, when then US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the 2015 international nuclear agreement.
Also on Friday, Iranian health authorities registered 8,367 new coronavirus cases, raising the country’s total tally 1,673,470.
Between Thursday and Friday, 81 new fatalities were detected, pushing its death toll up to 60,512. — IANS
