A Person Dies Every 10 Mins Due To Coronavirus In Iran, Calls To Lift Sanctions On Nation Grows

The coronavirus pandemic has seen mounted pressure on countries to protect their people, but Iran is facing a much larger crises as it struggles to control the spread of COVID-19, much due to US sanctions.?

Reuters

The new virus kills at least one person every 10 minutes in?Iran, the country’s health ministry has said, as shortages force medics to treat the sick without protective gear, while families say they are burying their loved ones in makeshift pits.?

"Based on our information, every 10 minutes one person dies from the coronavirus and some 50 people become infected with the virus every hour in Iran," Iran's health minister tweeted.? ?

The Asian country's has found it even more difficult to control the pandemic due to the sanctions in place. Iran is battling one of its worst crises in years and there is high risk that large proportion of population might be affected.?

AP

Nearly 18,500 have been infected and at least 1,284 people have died of Covid-19 in the country, the highest death toll outside of?China?and?Italy.? ?

As Iran battles, countries like Russia, China, and United Kingdom?have called on the US to immediately lift?sanctions on Iran?as the country struggles to deal with the rapidly spreading virus.?

On Monday, China's Foreign Ministry?asked the US to lift its sanctions, saying they were?thwarting Tehran's efforts to counter the pandemic,?officially known as COVID-19.

AP

"We urge the US to immediately lift unilateral sanctions on Iran. Continued sanctions are against?humanitarianism and hamper?Iran's epidemic response and?delivery of humanitarian aid," spokesman Geng Shuang said.

Russia's Foreign Ministry made a similar announcement,?calling the sanctions?"anti-human".??

"Illegal unilateral US sanctions, imposed since May 2018 as part of the 'maximum pressure' campaign, are a powerful obstacle to the effective fight against the infection," Russia's foreign ministry said.??

While humanitarian trade is exempted from US sanctions, many companies and banks around the world have been worried about engaging with Iran, fearing US secondary sanctions.