Shamkhnai: Sanctions Virus More Dangerous to Int’l Security than Corona

By Staff, Agencies

The Iranian top security official says the virus of imposing sanctions and reneging on pledges is more dangerous to international security than the coronavirus.

"The virus of sanctions and failure to honor promises is threatening international security more than the coronavirus," Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council [SNSC] Ali  Shamkhani tweeted on Saturday.

Regarding Washington’s offer of assistance to Iran, Shamkhani said "the US claim that it is ready to help Iran can only be verified through the country's implementation of its legal obligations under the JCPOA."

Shamkhnai was referring to the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which was signed in 2015 between Iran and six world states – namely the US, Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China – and endorsed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231.

Last week, President Donald Trump said that the US was willing to help the Iranians with the coronavirus outbreak, adding that “all they have to do is ask.” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also claimed that the Islamic Republic did not have a solid healthcare infrastructure and that Washing

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani rejected the US offer of help as insincere, saying Washington should first lift its sanctions on medical supplies if it really seeks to help the Islamic Republic.

The same country that has been taking the most “sinister” of actions against the Iranians over the past two years by re-imposing sanctions on their supplies of food and medicine is now hiding behind “a mask of sympathy” and pretending that it means to assist the nation, he emphasized.

The US reinstated its sanctions against Iran in May 2018 after unilaterally scrapping the JCPOA.

The illegal US bans have severely impacted the Iranians' access to life-saving medical supplies and hampered the country's ability to respond to the coronavirus.