World Health Organization’s Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Sunday that sanctions against Iran do not apply to emergencies and that Tehran would get all help it needed to fight the novel coronavirus outbreak.
“In an emergency situation, we could give them the support they need ... So the best would be addressing the current issue and providing all support that they need and in the process for the sanctions not to affect it,” Ghebreyesus said at the Second Riyadh International Humanitarian Forum, Asian News International reported.
“Sometimes when you bring it with other issues, you lose focus, and you don’t do what’s at hand. So let’s do what’s at hand ... Let’s really focus on this and make sure that there is nothing on our way to fight or respond to this outbreak effectively.”
Ghebreyesus stressed that there should be global coordination on the issues and pointed out that “together we can defend this”.
"We need to fight it because it's everybody. Everybody should stand as one. On sanctions and emergency situations, it is [sanctions] not applied,” he said.
The WHO chief noted that Tehran will receive all necessary support to fight the epidemic outbreak.
"So, we are working and we will give all the support Iran needs to [combat] the outbreak. On COVID issues, it's better to focus on COVID, the outbreak and whether we do it best to address this," he said.
The novel coronavirus was first detected in China in late December and has since spread to more than 50 countries, prompting the WHO to declare a global health emergency.
The virus has so far infected more than 79,000 people in mainland China, while over 2,800 people died and nearly 40,000 have recovered.
As per the latest WHO data, the number of those infected outside China has reached 4,691, while 67 people have died.
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