The United States has responded to demands to lift sanctions against Iran by imposing new sanctions on nine Chinese and South African companies with alleged aid to Tehran in its oil sector.
In addition to the nine companies, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed the imposition of sanctions on three Iranian personalities for their links to buying and selling in the field of Iranian petrochemicals and an investment company linked to the Iranian armed forces.
The sanctions also include five scientists in the Iranian nuclear energy field because of what the US Secretary described as Tehran's continued defiance of the international community with its nuclear activities.
Pompeo accused Iranian officials of lying about information related to tackling the Coronavirus, rather than using aid to counter it.
On the other hand, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif considered that unlawful US sanctions dried out Iran's economic resources and hampered its ability to combat Corona.
"Literally, they are killing innocent people, and it is immoral to see innocent people die because of US sanctions," Zarif said in a tweet on Twitter.
For her part, a US State Department spokeswoman said that the sanctions do not prevent aid from reaching Iran, adding that the United States continues to offer humanitarian assistance to the Iranian people to support its efforts to combat the Corona virus.
The spokeswoman said in a statement to the island that the United States continues to offer humanitarian assistance to the Iranian people to support its efforts to combat the virus, but expressed regret that the Iranian government rejected the American offer.
She added that the media should not believe the Chinese and Russian propaganda that misleads public opinion in order to believe that the blame falls on US sanctions.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has called for the lifting of US sanctions on Iran as part of international efforts to counter the spread of the Corona virus.
Khan said in an interview with the Associated Press that it is time to end the US sanctions against Iran that have struggled to counter the virus despite the sanctions imposed by the administration of President Donald Trump.
In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the United States of deliberately preventing Iran from fighting the Corona virus, and called on Washington to immediately lift sanctions against Iran, "because this is not the time to settle geopolitical calculations."
For his part, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Jing Shuang said that US sanctions against Iran hinder Iranian efforts in its war on the virus, and called for the lifting of these sanctions immediately.