RIYADH (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st March, 2020) The World Health Organization's Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated at the 2nd Riyadh International Humanitarian Forum on Sunday that the sanctions against Iran do not apply to emergencies and that Tehran would get all the help it needed to fight with 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 supports that they need and in the process for the sanctions not to affect it ... 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 said.
He 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 sanction and emergency situations it is [sanctions] not applied," Ghebreyesus said.
The director general added that Tehran will receive all necessary support.
"So we are working and we will give all the support Iran needs to 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 World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global health emergency. So far, the virus infected more than 79,000 people in mainland China, while over 2,800 people died and nearly 40,000 have recovered. According to the latest WHO data, the number of those infected outside China has reached 4,691, while 67 people have died.
